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"Like playing life" A modest review by an experienced gamer Let me start off by saying that have reached the highest echelon in this game and have, what mostly all the other reviewers lack, true in depth gaming experience into this MMO. Many have started with descriptions of the basic setup of the game and the process of selecting worlds and how its random and you cannot select a world. First let me address that this feature is innovative and almost necessary to keep the servers of such a popular game balanced. The server I play on, Pandemonium, is very populated and popular and I shudder to think what would happen if people could choose it out of a list of servers, but I digress, let me get to the heart of this game. If you have NEVER played a MMO before, this game is not for you. This game is the single hardest game I have ever played in my entire life. Its depth, scale and scope are unending and literary fathomless, even at my tier of game-state, I have still not finished even 75% of everything that can be done after months upon months of playing. This Fantasy is as also final as it is unending and the lvl of game play needed to accomplish godhood here calls for one to almost devote his whole life to playing FFXI. But along with its unending challenge comes this game's incredible allure and addiction. If you plan on playing this seriously, you WILL become addicted and unhealthily so. I have witnessed men so consumed with FFXI that they have not slept, gone to work, have cut off social contact, and even have lost their jobs because of it. Many of the people I know have almost 10 times the number of game friends as they do real life friends and a couple I know have almost no real life friends and just FFXI ones. Please have CAUTION, what you are buying is a commitment, you are about to start playing "real life", a life where contacts, social skills, and gil(the in game currency) are hard and precious to come by and to keep. It is a game based on social class and status where how you "look" (in terms of your armor and weapons) is how good of a player you are considered. This game is COMPLETELY social based. If you are a fan of single player and like to keep to yourself, well either do not purchase this or prepare to become a virtual social butterfly for you will need be such to survive. I have my own linkshell, which is the incredibly loose guild structure present within the game (by loose I mean joining a link has no commitment and really no outright benefit, such as, like in star wars galaxies or Shadowbane, the guild is able to own a starship or a whole city), yet we are like a family and each of us would fight vehemently to preserve it. This is also a game where being kind and friendly is greatly revered for if you get a bad reputation you will be denied good lvling parties, known and powerful linkshells, and generally be ostracized; I have known people who have jumped servers or quit playing altogether because of this. Again, let me restate that this is a game about human resource, those who have it, who can gather people together and manage them, as I can, can progress within a shorter amount of time and achieve far greater things then those who cannot. All people that style themselves leaders take head, this game will test your abilities to their limit, just to be able to keep your link alive and in the end, like I have, to manage and incite 70+ people to action and have them cooperate and listen is a feat that many of America's finest generals and presidents would not be able to accomplish if they had played along side us. I have rated this game 2 stars because it isnt fun. This game is tedious, incredibly so, and boring. After every lvl you achieve you will always see someone better, in fancier armor, with triple the amount of gil you have, and you will just have to press on. In this game lvl 65 is when the game STARTS. When you get to that point almost an additional 60% of the games worlds and events will start to become open to you and you must again start at lvl 1, so to speak. When you engage in this Fantasy be prepared to never buy another game and to live a separate life within a fictional world where no matter your social or economical stance in this one, you might be able to achieve greatness, or become another mediocre character lvling up and following the mob. On a final note, I must warn all players who are just now considering picking this game up. EVERY DAY, this game gets harder and harder. More high lvls to crowd HNM(the toughest and most rewarding "boss" monsters in the game sometimes taking up to a 30 man lvl 70+ team to take down) camps, and more and more noobies to crowd lower lvl NMs. (regular boss monsters usually can be soloed for powerful weapons and equipment)Also, for would be leaders, everyday that passes makes it harder and harder for someone to make a competitive link and get into a leader position because by the time you lvl to my lvl, for example, powerful links would have already locked down many HNMs as well as the gods. Thank you for listening and please head my words.... Also please DON'T buy the strategy guide, any lvl 40 + player is able to tell you everything that the guide would and in greater detail and with far better accuracy.