The Good 'Ole Days...

U

Urat

The Chocobo Master
Adventurer
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Messages
648
Location
Canada
Website
urats-chocobo-blog.blogspot.com
Main Job
Dancer-Male
Secondary Job
Dancer-Male
Third Job
Dancer-Male
Server
Quetzalcoatl
Linkshell
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This thread is for the people who want to reminisce about the good ole days, back when the AH in Windurst was laggy, when fishing didn't have a minigame, when RMTs actually camped LL, when no one even knew AF existed yet... so on.

Post your favourite memory from way back in the day. I'll start us off.

I think my most memorable moment happened around a week after getting ffxi. It was about a month after the game was released in the US, and I had been first in line to pick up that oh so huge box for the PS2 it came in.

God it was such an expensive game back then...

I had managed to find my way out of Windurst, and gotten my way up to about lv 8 or so. That's when I met a small group of fellow North Americans, all of us levels 5 to 10. "We're going to that spot on the map!" They declared. (We didn't know it was the entrance to horototo ruins yet, it was just a random spot we felt compelled to explore)

And this wasn't just the little one nice and close to the entrance to windy over in west saruta. Noooo, this is that one way up north on the way to Tahronghi Canyon.

Now, you need to understand the people in this makeshift party had never even been past the OP in saruta, let alone up on the northern shelf of East Saruta. This was going to be quite the expedition for us all.

So we were off. The trip took us about half an hour on foot. Why? Well half of us had no idea how to follow the map, and we got aggroed quite a few times by the yagudo. Luckily one of us was level 11, so only two of us ended up dying on the way.

Finally, after the gruelling trek, we noobs had made it to the northern entrance of Horototo Ruins. We got together in front of the entrance, all /cheered and took screenshots, then ran in blindly.

WE ran around killing gobs for a good 20 minutes, before one of our members found the hidden door...

Totally lost already in the one room of Horoto, we randomly decided to open it and keep going. Another 15 minutes of spelunking ensued, ending with a valiant battle against a slime and wiping.

All in all, I think it was that night that got me hooked on ffxi. The whole idea of going around and exploring and adventuring with random people is what makes ffxi so addicting, no?

Anywho, I want to hear all of your memorable moments from your noob days. Go ahead and post ^_^
 
I remember when I first played, leaping boots were 150k (that's pre-inflation), and I farmed fire crystals and sold them in the Sandy AH for 3k a stack and thought I was rich after I got like 50k. Oh how I wish 50k was still a lot these days. :/ Damn you PCC... damn you...
 
It's that kind of stuff, Urat, that makes me think people don't give SE enough credit for what they did with this game. The way I felt, and I'm sure I'm not alone, when I first exited Windy, or when I first exited Sarutabaruta, or my first trip on the Mhaura -> Selbina boat (Sea Horror included), or my first party in the dunes, it's all one big adventure. To think that back in the day when you thought the world of vanadiel was confined to such a small area, those high level mobs were sitting there, knowing it would be probably 2 years before they'd see me.

It's without a doubt the people that make this game so good. The fact that the area which you can explore is so vast and detailed helps, but the fact you can interact with people all over the world while you do it makes it so entertaining. It's also the reason why it's still going 7 years later (I think.). I think my memories are probably on my MNK, hitting things in east sarutabaruta, with people looking at me at level 8, saying "2 more levels and you can party!" I'd be like "I don't want to party, I want to level!," thinking a party was something to do with drinking and baloons and singing/dancing etc. (The concept of partying was probably explained in the manual or w/e, but I've never been one for manuals/guides.)

Reaching level 10, running through Tahrongi Canyon (WITHOUT AGGRO), into Buburimu Peninsula on my Lv.10 MNK, nearly shaking with anticipation at the prospect of the boat ride to my first ever party...purply-red stuff shoots out from my brown-haired character I reckoned looked rather like myself in real life... a Goblin. Another hit...I are dead. Hmmm... do I have to return to the start and create a new character now? I didn't save the game... shitbox... home...point? Fuck it. Windurst again -.-. Still level 10 though.

Repeat that process 3 times, and I made it to mhaura. Hearing the awesome music of that place, I'll never forget. Found the home-point crystal, and used it. Explored the place for about 45 minutes, then finally worked out how to get on the boat. ---

On the boat...you can pretty much guess...hey, this is cool. A door - doesn't work. Turn's around - hey, more doors... they work... stairs... up we go... a squid... dead. =( The first of a fair few encounters with a Sea Horror. Nobody except a few fishermen on the boat up the top, who didn't move except to cast their rods out and in (lol, it happened then too) so I home-pointed back to Mhaura, and stayed below deck this time.

Selbina...... What was that dudes name who told me the boat takes you to Valkurm dunes... HE LIES! (btw, being on 360 without a keyboard, typing sucks. You type with your controller, selecting each and every character. Hence, you keep typing to a MINIMUM.)

So I decided not to ask any more questions, and explored this new place with cool music. Looked cooler than Mhaura, sunnier, so I wasn't to unhappy. About 2 hours later, I zone. Hmmm, wonder where I'm going. Un-zone -> Valkurm Dunes. ZOMGZ! Ran out, found a gob, hit it, got 2-shotted, lmao'd, HP'd, got on the boat, and went back. Worked out how to seek up, took about 2 months to get outa the dunes, but got there in the end. I think I got my first Linkshell while I was there, and had an outrageously fun time.

I don't know why, but the game seemed like more fun then. You had no idea how big the place was, where you'd zone to next, and whether the next monster you'd run past would kick your ass in 2 hits or not. You felt so innocent, and the excitement of the adventure that lay ahead of you was the real thrill, imo. Once you've got you first 75, beaten a few storylines, etc etc, you lose that innocence...shit, you lose that innocence when you conquer the dunes and get your kazham keys...

Ahhh... I still love the Mhaura + Selbina music...
 
Ah yes, Sea Horror. Man I remember it, fondly actually. Managing to trek all the way from Windy to Mhaura as a level 15 whm (as ppl still leveled in the maze back then), not managing to die, get on the ferry, go ugg at the music (as I listened to the in game music back then too), watch all the mounds of ppl rush up to the deck, as ppl used the ferry back then. Tread carefully outside, looked around, all was fine. No sea horror that ride. Next day however, was one of those mega-wipes where it killed everyone on the boat save the 70+'s. I laughed at it then, and looking back at it, I still do. Every action I took while as a noob have shaped me as a player, and it's something I can never take back, or repeat. I wouldn't be the stabbing but missing, cake loving, insane taru I am today if not for all the adventures over the years.

My earliest adventures was crawling around in the Horutoto Ruins at level 10, dying over and over to the cardians. Buying a piece of gear for 200 (!) gil, only to quest it 20 minutes later (compound eye circlet. I still own it to this day, even after 5 years) I wouldn't give up my early day memories for anything.
 
My most fond memory was the first time I entered the Metalworks in Bastok and found Cid. Was like OMFG WTF BBQ this is definatly an FF game. Then it took me 3 more hours to figure out how to leave the place.... wandering around aimlessly... was great fun lol...

Then my first expedition outside I was killing bee's and low and behold this lvl 25 Warior jumped out on a choco with his flag up.. So I promptly invited him to help me kill these bee's after all he was lvl 25 he could kill them faster than me. Shortly after was my first friend in game and my first lesson on partying lol
 
I remember playing way back when. It was the first time I played back on Midgardsomr, when I was a Taru BLM who was aligned to Bastok! Back then on Midgardsomr Bastok was actually always in second or first... Sandoria was always first or second as well, and Windurst was always dead last.

I remember my first treks out in S gusta killing worms and bees, while my RL friend Gaspar gave me 50k to get my spells in order for BLM. He also told me to buy Scrolls of Reraise so that I could save XP at later levels. I remember seeing a VT Quadav at the time, and thinking I could nuke the crap out of it... With Stone I. The first time I nuked it, it did about 20% of its HP... needless to say it trounced me. Lucky for me I had my scroll of RR up, I popped up... NOT KNOWING that you start weakened.... I rested got MP back and tried to nuke it again.... It owned me in one hit.....

That was probably one of the funniest part of the game for me, back when I started.
 
Dragons! That first time you did 2-3 and faced what was most likely your first dragon and your first BC...I was awestruck by it's size and difficulty. I remember we fought so hard to beat it, and began to celebrate when it fell, as the eye (which we had no clue was there) floated over and face-raped our summoner. lol. Kinda sad that now I usually solo/duo it.

The Dragoon quest dragon! Again I was awestruck as I fought it. It's sheer size and the fact that some random lv.68 JP DRG was actually helping me. This is of course back in the day when there was like 13 DRG on the whole server. I fired up Mighty Strikes in an attempt to fight my heart out, only to end up waiting for 90 minutes outside Sandy to call my Wyvern.

Also spending 3 months to get a RL friend to 30, then to get his BST to 30 only to find out we would never see our dream of a charmed Malboro released outside of Bastok. We were so heartbroken.

The best though, Me, WAR15, Craven, RDM15 and Tillman, WAR15 slaving for hours on end every day in Dangruff Wadi killing gobs for 15 exp each and actually thinking we were hoy-shit for doing so. lol. That ruled.
 
Me and my friend will never ever EVER forget the day we first installed the game, found a bunny, wiped to it several times trying to kill it and had no idea why he was so strong.

Long live Jaggedy-Eared Jack.
 
What a great thread...my favorite time actually was when I was around a level 9 or 10 white mage and I walked by a beastmaster in full AF with the opo opo crown sitting outside of the Windurst Chocobo area.

Since that, I was determine to become a BST because they were fuzzy and cute!
 
I remember being in awe of all the mobs in the Glacier the first time I went there. I was with my husband and we were doing some sort of mission or quest. I got aggro, got the shit kicked out of me, and wondered if level 75 players could kill those damned gigas.

I also fondly recall purchasing a stack of arrows and a quiver and then throwing the quiver on the ground because I couldn't figure out how to put the arrows in it. I was such a noob. :blush2:
 
iaredrew said:
Me and my friend will never ever EVER forget the day we first installed the game, found a bunny, wiped to it several times trying to kill it and had no idea why he was so strong.

Long live Jaggedy-Eared Jack.
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I had a similar experience when I first started. I ran out into South Gustaberg and started lvling, like normal. Then I started doing lizards and I engaged and promptly died.

Fuck you, Leaping Lizzy -.-

I first knew I wanted to lvl samurai when I was in dunes and saw a 75 samurai apparently helping a friend. I saw him use Tachi: Kasha and from then on I made it my goal to be a samurai.
 
Magic Bursts QQ R.I.P.

I remember doing TONS of damage with bursting on things like aura statues way back when. The static I had back then was awesome we had a 3 step light chain that decimated everything in its path. It makes me sad that there is no need for things like this anymore. Either everything gets zerged or just manaburned where you just throw a ton of mages all doing thunder4/t-ga 3/burst 2 at it until its dead.

Skillchains+MB's have become a vestigial organ in this game; used at one point but unknown as to its use today :( I wish the Dev team were able to make bursts worth a damn without completely crippling melees or making the bursts too broken in terms of damage.
 
Rorschach said:
Magic Bursts QQ R.I.P.

I remember doing TONS of damage with bursting on things like aura statues way back when. The static I had back then was awesome we had a 3 step light chain that decimated everything in its path. It makes me sad that there is no need for things like this anymore. Either everything gets zerged or just manaburned where you just throw a ton of mages all doing thunder4/t-ga 3/burst 2 at it until its dead.

Skillchains+MB's have become a vestigial organ in this game; used at one point but unknown as to its use today :( I wish the Dev team were able to make bursts worth a damn without completely crippling melees or making the bursts too broken in terms of damage.
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This.

I remember organizing sc's in the dunes as WAR and having mages burst off em. I remember setting up Distortion sc's and having blizzard burst off them for tons of damage. Now, you ask people what a sc or magic burst is and they're like "whaaaat?!"
 
Oh I like this thread :( My first few hours in-game: It took me forever to explore windy and then find the zone into saruta. I ran all the way to the north tower in E.Saruta and was killed my Spiny Spipi, then some nice high-level Mithra raised me, killed Spipi and let me keep the cape :3 A few days later I met my first FFXI friends and was given a SenorKupo LS (RIP D: ), then we all went on an expedition to the dunes which involved getting very lost and dying a few times. I had no idea how to party on WHM and was really nervous, but my shell told me to just cure the guy getting hurt... and it worked!

I remember wanting to be a SMN so badly because I thought it would be like in the other FFs where they just call an esper and it crushes everything - needless to say I was disillusioned after farming for that damned Ruby for days and levelling 1-30 with only Carbuncle. Then I just couldn't decide which job I wanted to level to 75 first... so I levelled like 8 of them to 30 before I came back to WHM. And the parties in sky were fun! Bursting Light with my WHM, I thought I was hot shit lol. Ror's right, they should reinvigorate MBs - does anyone remember bursting with AM? Freeze would just decimate everything!

I also remember really wanting to play NIN, and soloing those leeches in Korroloka with my level 45 WHM after so many deaths. But I got it and then spent the rest of the week farming yag beads. Oh! and my first Hexa Strike, the memories :(
 
my friend jussy powerlevelled me my first 3 levels and bought me lvl 1 gear for meh blm... those worms were hard : P :P :P






im thinking of coming back tot his game maybe... i miss it.... /cry....
 
Oh this thread is wonderful. I remember the day I first set foot in the dunes as a lvl 10 war no sub LOL. I got into some great pts that day, hit 14 and met a few people that became my first friends on my FL (altho most may not remember, *stare @ Isollde and a few others*). I remember after hitting 20WAR and getting my choco license, I was running thru S. Gusty and came across a lizard with a funny name (Leaping Lizzy) I jumped off my choco and promptly engaged and defeated it and got a pair of Bounding Boots (LOL i didnt know what r/ex gear was at the time). I remember asking my LS how much they would sell for, and Dragonius (jackass LOL) told me they sold for 19374695 gil. I tried to put them on the AH for a while until he finally told me r/ex gear couldnt be sold in the AH.


Ahhhhhhh to be a noob *sniff*
 
I remember when I got lv 2 thief. when I got my 1st gil oh boy thats when the greed started! oh i also remember the fight for rabbits on ronfaure back on 2003(or was it 2002) i dont remember release date.
Ohand my 1st dynamis run with ponpon
Hexx said:
Oh this thread is wonderful. I remember the day I first set foot in the dunes as a lvl 10 war no sub LOL. I got into some great pts that day, hit 14 and met a few people that became my first friends on my FL (altho most may not remember, *stare @ Isollde and a few others*). I remember after hitting 20WAR and getting my choco license, I was running thru S. Gusty and came across a lizard with a funny name (Leaping Lizzy) I jumped off my choco and promptly engaged and defeated it and got a pair of Bounding Boots (LOL i didnt know what r/ex gear was at the time). I remember asking my LS how much they would sell for, and Dragonius (jackass LOL) told me they sold for 19374695 gil. I tried to put them on the AH for a while until he finally told me r/ex gear couldnt be sold in the AH.


Ahhhhhhh to be a noob *sniff*
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bounding boots. sup 2005
 
Better yet I remember buying the game on release date and not having a computer able to run it till January 04 stupid character creation high polygon things that even under the simplified versions P.C. just couldn't handle it. That was after I downloaded the original update for 17 hours..

So I'm in 8th grade just being an 8th grader you know being 13, voice changing girls getting boobs and stuff but I rather play FFXI all day even sucked my best friend into playing FFXI and becoming addicted to it.

At the time we played we ran with RPGPlayersRealm. Darkdominion, Marajade, Trigger and I would go questing and leveling etc the stuff you do when you're a low level. I remember staying up past my bedtime to get to selbina for the first time with them. But on that first trip I was introduced to the great Kraken Club by a RDM who solod the sea whore and was amazed.

I also had a few random goals that I will never see out. I originally leveled RDM so I could learn fire and burn down the star tree in Windurst..but it wasn't targetable so that didn't work. But before that I planned on being a DRG/SMN so I could have a wyvern and an avatar turns out can't have more than one pet so I stuck RDM out to 75 as /smn

My first garrison in west saruta with Mara, Dark and Xamregnu ended horribly and Marajade QQed about his exp lossed for years xD.

Back when I went to break lvl 50 cap Jamal solod my Ancient Papyrus on his 75 PLD and we had good laughs and what not.

Christmas 2004 marks the day I join BoundbyHonor with Jordbattousai leading. Jord and Darth duod the shadow lord battle and let me leech a win. Stayed with them for a while met some people like Razerratic, Uzor, Odon? (Not sure on Odon..) and hung out with them.

At the time I was trying to level up and get sky etc so I could join NAfireblade with Jazper and Sneaky but by the time I got there they closed recruiting so I ended up joining NH I think..had a mithra leader Perfectangel I think?

Somewhere imbetween this I was in AngerManagment with some taru leader back in the day was a social can't recall anyone exactly besides Daywalker and Noelani who used to always call me "Grand slam" with auto-translate.

Shortly after I got grounded for about a year..so a year happens I finally get back into playing and I run into this fugly little taru in windurst named Watchyourstep and saw he was a shellholder and I needed a shell so I took it.. Then enters the BoL phase of my life but all that really isn't worth talking about lol

As the majority of you recall I was banned for hacks but I think I have redeemed myself since my return and seemed to have became re-acceptable to the server since I went from 1red bar (Hi2uGarvin) to 4 blues before the rep system was disabled. So I thank everyone that has given me a second chance.

Since Jun 09th 2007 when I remade my character I have gotten 2 75's 5/5 Clerics set windy/roz (Sky 56)/cop(beat@61)/AN/ToAU and almost captain I think I've came along way from the 75RDM/37SMN I once was~
 
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