Possible new PSU player needs opinion from former FFXI playe

[Mistoffolies]

Hello everyone,

This is directed at former FFXI players.

What was the transition from FFXI to PSU like for you?

and for all:

Are there any limitations to your inventory like in FFXI, such as XX slots for auction house and XX slots on your character?

Background for me:

I currently play FFXI, but have gotten to a point that I cannot go any further because of time constraints (school, work, RL, etc). I am limited to about 5 hours throught the week and 10-15 on the weekends. The solo aspect + opportunity for groups in PSU is very interesting to me.

I also play on PS2 because I refuse to sit in front of a computer any more that I have to (40 hours at work already).

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Mistoffolies

[Miyoko]

I haven't played FFXI, but I can answer some questions regardless.

"What was the transition from FFXI to PSU like for you? "
You're going to get many responses to this, but one thing people will have in common in their response: PSU is -nothing- at all like FFXI.

Yes, there are limitations on items. you can have 60 on your character at once given time (like items stack to certain numbers, depending on what it is. ie. 20 healing, 10 reviving, 99 material).

You have a bank that can hold a christ-ton of items (limited, but a very high limit. I have yet to come anywhere near the cap. Taking a stab, but I think it was what, 650 unique item types?)

I believe you can have about the same number of items up for sale at any given time. So yes: there are limits on how many items you can hold, but the limits are very, very generous.

... Also, you really should play on PC if you can. Just get a controller. I think everyone will recommend the same thing http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif Heck, you can even hook your video card up to your TV if you're that adamant about not looking at a monitor... But yeah. PC version, highly superior (if your machine can handle it). http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Ryu3s]

One of the best points of PSU for me is that I have a rather restricted schedule too. You can play the game an hour a day and still do really well unlike most other online rpgs.

[Neggy]

What was the transition from FFXI to PSU like for you?

Well, FFXI, as you know, is very strict. You NEED six specific people for a party. In PSU, for some missions, you need three people in general, others you need two, and a couple need four and five, but for the most part you'll be fine with three. Meaning no waiting for the right job to show up, just start a party, and people will join. Making parties in PSU is a lot different than in FFXI. In FFXI you throw up your party flag, and wait. In PSU, you enter a dungeon from a field lobby (think Jeuno/Whitegate), and from that lobby, you can pull up basically a bulletin board that lists the available parties. So, it's a lot easier to start grinding in PSU than in FFXI.

The gameplay is WILDLY different. FFXI has a pace, which once you get used to, is pretty slow. PSU is simply run and gun gameplay, run, kill, repeat. No pulling one mob at a time or any of that shit. Clear out all the mobs in one room, run to the next. It's very fast compared to FFXI. PSU plays more like an action game than an RPG.


Are there any limitations to your inventory like in FFXI, such as XX slots for auction house and XX slots on your character?

No auction house in PSU, you'll be doing most of your shopping from player shops. You can search for items in players shops from your room (your mog house, basically), so it's really not a hassle.

You can store 60 items on your character, 200 on your PM (your moogle), and I think 50 in your common box. Your common box is storage that all of your characters, and your characters only can access.

There's not much transition, since it's an entirely different game, but if you're looking for a pick up and play MMO, PSU is where it's at. You can log on, grind for an hour, log off, and still make progress.

[Mistoffolies]

thanks again for the answers.

This really sounds like something that I would be able to like very well.

I should have also added about my computer. I am not in a position to upgrade it for gaming. It is very basic, just enough to get me online for research and Microsoft office for papers/spreadsheets. Heck it takes it like 5 minutes just to warm up. (Im poor that way, hehe)

[Mikura]

I'm on PS2 and honestly, I don't have any problems with it. Well, technically I'm on PS3 but it's still a PS2 game I'm playing so yeah. xD You'll be fine with the PS2 copy if you can't afford to upgrade your PC for PSU.

I'm from FFXI and like others have mentioned, they are two totally different and seperate games. They're both online but that's the only common thread between them. PSU is much simplier and laid back compared to FFXI and you doesn't require a huge commitment like FFXI either. Best part about it in my opinion is it's simplicity because FFXI just had far too much drama for my taste because of it's complexity and sheer difficulty to acquire items. You won't find that here except for some spam in the lobbies but that barely qualifies as any drama. lol

For your busy schedule, I would think PSU would be a great online game for you to play and you'd thoroughly enjoy it. Not to mention I think the PS2/PC community would gladly welcome any new players to their small, quant little community. ;p

[Sylpheed]

PSU is in my opinion a more enjoyable,fun ALOT easier to pick up and in some respects easy compared to FFXI if youre pondering whther to leave FFXI to get PSU instead i'd say dont bother thinking about it, just do it FFXI is such a slow game that takes like 10 years just to get from one place to another.

[Sasamichan]

May I add, in PSU, you dont have to find a replacement or give people a heads up when you need/want to log.

[Mikura]

Yeah, you can just disconnect if you want... It is the American Way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfUyTLXwkt4) after all. ;p

[SStrikerR]

On 2007-04-27 13:09, Mistoffolies wrote:
thanks again for the answers.

This really sounds like something that I would be able to like very well.

I should have also added about my computer. I am not in a position to upgrade it for gaming. It is very basic, just enough to get me online for research and Microsoft office for papers/spreadsheets. Heck it takes it like 5 minutes just to warm up. (Im poor that way, hehe)

ps2 would be best for you, cause pc can be terrible in games if it isnt one of the best, whereas the ps2, isnt like computers, it always stays the same, so youd be best with ps2.

[VanHalen]

On 2007-04-27 13:09, Mistoffolies wrote:
thanks again for the answers.

This really sounds like something that I would be able to like very well.

I should have also added about my computer. I am not in a position to upgrade it for gaming. It is very basic, just enough to get me online for research and Microsoft office for papers/spreadsheets. Heck it takes it like 5 minutes just to warm up. (Im poor that way, hehe)



Lol As long as your graphics card is like 64MB or higher its ok you'll have to put it in low end mode though. I use my laptop which has a intergrated graphics card 128MB but it runs this game fine on Low end mode at frameskip 1.

[Sychosis]

A 64MB integrated card will NOT run the game fine on low end mode. I speak from experience. (Threw it on my desktop for kicks) Runs like Molasses.

[VanHalen]

Ok then 64MB is a no go. I just went by what it said on the homepage.

[McLaughlin]

On 2007-04-27 14:07, Ryan113 wrote:

On 2007-04-27 13:09, Mistoffolies wrote:
thanks again for the answers.

This really sounds like something that I would be able to like very well.

I should have also added about my computer. I am not in a position to upgrade it for gaming. It is very basic, just enough to get me online for research and Microsoft office for papers/spreadsheets. Heck it takes it like 5 minutes just to warm up. (Im poor that way, hehe)

ps2 would be best for you, cause pc can be terrible in games if it isnt one of the best, whereas the ps2, isnt like computers, it always stays the same, so youd be best with ps2.



Yeah, the PS2 is consistently slow. >_>

[Sychosis]

On 2007-04-27 14:15, VanHalen wrote:
Ok then 64MB is a no go. I just went by what it said on the homepage.



Think 5 fps when using a Photon Art http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif

[VanHalen]

On 2007-04-27 14:18, Sychosis wrote:

On 2007-04-27 14:15, VanHalen wrote:
Ok then 64MB is a no go. I just went by what it said on the homepage.



Think 5 fps when using a Photon Art http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif



Heh. You can have fun still. Just think of it has the Matrix. Except it doesn't stop with the special effects.

[Sakuya]

300 items on your Partner Machine.

32 or 36, in your common Box.

32 or 36 in your shop.

60 Items on your person.

You'll realize what items are junk shortly and sell a lot of stuff to an NPC later. So it'll make more room.

They start you off with four characters so your item limitation for a more advanced player becomes 4 times the current amount.

A Player who wants so many options that they can't get enough PSU will grab a second account, sometimes a third.

You can Solo ANY mission, thanks to Sega introducing NPC cards from the beginning of the game. Don't think that they are there to help you though (Because they aren't) They are there to be a distraction for the enemies while you kill them.

In FFXI, to be great you have to play... A LOT. To get a high level you have to Play... A LOT! In this game you'll reach level 50 and be able to do most S ranks in about 70 hours of game time. Solo or Group.

By about 250 hours of gameplay, you'll probably reach level 80. On your constraints, you will reach a cap, assuming it doesn't increase very soon within 3 months.

But yeah, youll enjoy yourself here, speaking as a former level 60 Paladin Myself.

[SarinSerafi]

I'll back up what everyone else has said so far. This game is very kind to the casual player, and to those who don't have a lot of time to play a game. The monthly fee is very affordable, and you can play anytime for as long as you want. There will always be the "hardcore" players, those with lots of time on their hands to constantly hunt for things and level 2-3 characters, but it's not necessary to advance or even do a decent job. Unlike FFXI, where you'd be looked down upon if you didn't have a Noble's Tunic as a WHM or a Haubergeon as a WAR by the time you could use it, and no "reputable" high-class end game linkshell would let you in unless you were screwing the leader.

I played FFXI for almost 2 years prior to quitting and coming onto PSU, and it's been a wise decision. FFXI and it's time restraints and requirements (heck, who could have a decent work schedule in RL when you had Dynamis at 4pm PST Sunday and Wednesday, sea at 3pm PST Tuesday and Friday, and sky hunting every Thursday and Saturday at 3:30pm PST? Ridiculous things like that is just not feasible for the adult gamer with a full-time RL schedule. That game really are for people with no job or a stay-at-home job.

[Zorafim]

On 2007-04-27 12:18, Mistoffolies wrote:
Hello everyone,

This is directed at former FFXI players.

What was the transition from FFXI to PSU like for you?</quote>

Very smooth. Everything I needed from FFXI, I got from PSU. Eventually, though, you may run out of things to do, but you'll suffer less of the FFXI withdrawal symptoms if you go to PSU.

<quote>and for all:

Are there any limitations to your inventory like in FFXI, such as XX slots for auction house and XX slots on your character?</quote>

The personal storage is much less limited than in FFXI, especially before the gobbie bag quests. You start off with 60 slots, and only really need about 14 for equipment (around six weapons, five armor pieces, and three pieces of clothing). The rest is open to things that drop, which you can sell in your shop (Around 30 slots used for selling items, as opposed to 6). And finally, you have a nearly unlimited bank. You can store many things without worrying about space (navigating through it is another story, of course).

<quote>Background for me:

I currently play FFXI, but have gotten to a point that I cannot go any further because of time constraints (school, work, RL, etc). I am limited to about 5 hours throught the week and 10-15 on the weekends. The solo aspect + opportunity for groups in PSU is very interesting to me.

I also play on PS2 because I refuse to sit in front of a computer any more that I have to (40 hours at work already).

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Mistoffolies



Time is really not much of an issue. You can start and stop whenever you want, telling your group nothing more than "hey, I gotta go." Of course, I'd appreciate it if you told us a few minutes ahead of time, but it's not necessary like it was in FFXI since another person will just replace you quickly anyway (assuming you're at a hotspot).
You can solo, and do things solo, but of course grouping is much more effective. There aren't really ideal groups, but at least one techer type is normally wanted. A group of six members of any class can go ahead and get exp or what have you without too much notice. At later levels, you'll get less rewards than you'd like when soloing, but it's not nearly as bad as in FFXI.


I hope that answered some questions. And remember, plds own your soul.

[Finae]

Since others already answered those questions, I'll just say this....

I can think of a billion things about psu that are better than ffxi. Since you have never played the pso series before unlike myself, you're completely new to the series. Main thing about psu is that it can be played casually. You can invest your time in guilds, but since there is no function for that and its hard to manage anyways, most guilds play it casually also. In that 5 hours of time, you can make a lot of improvement to your character if and only if you know what you're doing http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif.

Tbh, I hate ffxi with a passion. I could write a 20 page paper on why I hate and how it sucks so bad. I cancelled my ffxi account about 3 years ago and was a 75 drk/nin. I had a busy schedule with college, part time work, gf, etc, but I know one semester I had to sacrifice that for that game and the guild. So frikken time consuming and on that summer, I kinda realized that ffxi was turning into crap for me. The guild drama also increased the "ffxi crappiness" for me. I'm starting to look for games with real time combat instead of "omg, let me watch my char wack this crap." People on here and the official sega boards give the game a lot of hate, but thats just because of sega's track record lol. The only reason I'm still playing this game is because you can play it whenever you damn well feel like it and I sure as hell love the real time combat.

You can play psu hardcore, but I don't see why when compared to mmos like ffxi. I'd wait for more content to be pushed out though because rushing truly will make you bored in the long run. Even though I'm level 80, I still find things to keep me busy, but I don't be playin the game 24/7. I casually do my rare hunting for the day and go back to rl priorities.

The only thing I do for FFXI these days is mod it still and thats a hobby I do only when I actually have the time of day. Majority of my ffxi friends have left that game either when i left or after and realized it was nothin special. SUre, I'll admit, I had fun playing as a nin/drk at times, but it got old fast.

[danny_o]

One concept that both games share is switching your class, or type. I LOVED THAT ABOUT FFXI, but... It took WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to long to get level ups, and you were anchored to a LFP tag...

But in PSU you keep your core level, and get to level a "Type" that applies a % modifier to your stats and allows you to equip certain weapons. I like that style of doing it, lots of fun. And you can solo like crazy, any class can just run into a mission and start tearing things up, no help needed, but for tougher stuff you need more people.

[Oniko]

I still play FFXI, lol. However I too run into time problems a lot, which is one reason I picked up PSU.

The "transition" well, I wouldn't even call it that, I didn't pick up PSU thinking it would be remotely similar. It was just a new game to try that looked fun. They don't look the same or play the same, they are just two seperate games with no real relation to each other asside from being online. If you want a comparison to gameplay, think .hack.

Inventory limitations...oh wow, if I had 1g for everytime I had to mule in FF, I'd have every piece of AHable gear in existance and then some...Being a Ninja doesn't help. PSU, I don't even have one mule >.> there's no point, I can actually keep everything just fine, at most my normal inventory gets filled with worthless drops that I can just toss out, and while soloing you can just not pick up items you dont want, genius!

I find PSU a little harder to get into community wise though, which is the main reason I still enjoy FF(despite all the idiots -.-) there's not really a good way to find people if you don't have their card, and even with their card, communication when you're not near each other is...well...poor. Mailing is just tedious for what it does. Though it just means you have to take a little extra effort to reach people, once you meet up at a lobby there's not really a problem.(and Cut-in chat is awesome...except for that guy who spams it in the lobby over and over and over...)

The game also lacks a lot of challenge, you can find it if you look, but you have to look.(granted, FF still had people taking the easy way out "throw more BLM at it" "throw more WS at it" "throw more SMN at it" etc) So if you want a good challenge, I recommend trying some areas that aren't always populated by parties, it's there if you look. It's not like a Wyrm or Absolute Virtue challenge, but it wont take 5+ hours to do either >.>

The repetition of the game is about the same. Instead of killing crabs for 50 levels, you do Crimson Beast XD The grinding is by choice as always though, even FF had other options people never bothered to check out. With 4 lobbies each having plenty of missions, Crimson Beast is far from the only mission you can do for exp/MP.

Basically, PSU is a good game for limited schedules. You wont find slow paced tactical gameplay, you'll find lots of hacking, slashing, shooting, and dungeon crawling. It has it's own unique flair, and best of all, everything is a freaking laser! =P

[Evil_Orion]

Is 90 hours bad for a lvl 33 fortifighter? Well.. I did leave my xbox 360 on over night a few times.....

[Sakuya]

90 hours? You'd have to spend a lot of time in your room synthing, shop searching, chatting with friends, and afking to pull that off.

HOWEVER! 90 hours isn't bad because no one but you and those you tell know how long you spent getting there. On top of that I referred to more consistant play as opposed to AFK.

[Kimil]

On 2007-04-27 14:16, Obsidian_Knight wrote:

Yeah, the PS2 is consistently slow. >_>



Not really... Just in Bruces Dungeon for some reason

One way to get around some of the slowdown on the PS2 version is to look at the ground while running, equip your desired weps a little sooner and turn the sound off through your options ( not the tv set http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif).

[Alisha]

i hate the class switching system in psu because switching classes as a level 80 FF then switching to ranger with level 1 bullets totally owns.

[Ravennittes]

You know, you could always play the 360 version. It's fast, clean, has more players, (though not all the top quality, which is normal for most games anyway), and has a couple ex-FFXI players (like myself). I quit on the fact that I'd been waiting for PSU and FFXI was REALLY boring.

[Jey]

FFXI needs beam weapons *noodles*

Like most have said, PSU can be played a lot more casually. As long as you are not expecting something as epic as FFXI in story and especially gear options, you are able to play whenever you want, solo whenever, party whenever. As long as a party isn't locked, you can jump into any open party and no one minds (that's why it isn't locked, generally)

You'll love the character creation, you'll hate the lack of clothing options. The PAs and real-time fighting are a lot of fun; the nukes aren't quite as cool (Burst II still rocks anything in this game). You'll hate the emote interface but totally laugh at them. You'll hate simplemail and wish there was guild chat. You'll hate most of the really goofy monster designs.

If you want nice gear, the time investment in this game is pretty much as bad as FFXI. Of course, there is no competing for NMs in PSU as everything is instanced, but drop rates on upper-end gear is absolute crap, and starter synthesis will make you want to quit many times. It's like being able to pop and solo Fafnir as often as you want, but you have to wait 10-30 minutes between pops, and the Ridill drop rate is 0.1%

[Seira7]

On 2007-04-27 20:37, Evil_Orion wrote:
Is 90 hours bad for a lvl 33 fortifighter? Well.. I did leave my xbox 360 on over night a few times.....



Hehe thats awesome. I have been playing since Christmas (well took a break) and I'm only level 53.
I spend a lot of time vegetating in My Room XD.

There was just a really sad post I saw at the other
forums about how you shouldnt play PSU unless you are
"dedicated"/"hardcore" It made me ROFL.

But it also reminded me of a some scary people that played PSO BB.
They took the game wayyyy seriously and were obsessed with perfect mat usage and total power levelers, playing endlessly everyday. They were from FF XI -_- Not to say everyone is like that, but getting to know them made me scared of that game~lol~