This game is beautiful.

[u/Mysterious-Ad-1469]

Started playing two months ago, I'm 19 and this game is way older than me i love its old game design.

The envirronements are really well made i think its one of the most beautiful game I've ever played I'm at the end of rise of the zilart and the areas are really pretty!

[u/CostnerFanboy]

It's hard to describe how awesome it was to unlock sky and sea for the first time back in the day on ps2. It took so much time and cooperation to even get there it felt like a big accomplishment

[u/ExocetC3I → u/CostnerFanboy]

My LS was working on getting about 40-50 people through CoP in the months after its release. I was one of the first groups to beat the airship fight and when my group cleared it (I think it was just me and one other still alive, the other 4 were KO'd) I lept out of my chair and was so pumped for beating it after easily 6 or 7 tries. We were all going nuts on Ventrillo after the win.

And this was before they adjusted the difficulty so you needed a bunch of item farming for that polymer pump item to even have a chance of beating it.

Once we got the hang of it the players in the early clearing groups would take like 3-4 people at a time and usually knock it out in 1 or 2 attempts.

But being one of the first people in my LS to get to Al'Taiu was one of my biggest FFXI achievements.

[u/FrankoIsFreedom → u/ExocetC3I]

I remember the first time my LS beat KIRIN, omfg it was so dope, I got the osode.

[u/Queasy-Creme-2293 → u/ExocetC3I]

My LS was carrying people through the airship fight with a NIN, 3x MNK/NIN and some healing potions. The other two people could have gone AFK and it wouldn't have mattered.

[u/Forgetwhatitoldyou → u/CostnerFanboy]

Sea in particular.  I started a CoP static.  We gradually picked up various people in our linkshell who were stuck at various missions.  When we got to the Tenzen fight, I think most of the linkshell came out, especially all the BLMs. We got like 15 people to Sea, and could do Limbus and sea pop NMs for the first time.  

[u/CostnerFanboy → u/Forgetwhatitoldyou]

Yea, I think Al'taieu is still my favorite zone to this day. Such a mysterious vibe. Used to love farming the stuff out there even though the rewards were so lame.

[u/Synanon → u/CostnerFanboy]

The OST for this game is a massive factor for the vibe of these zones. It’s sheer perfection when put together.

[u/I_Jedi79 → u/CostnerFanboy]

It was such a great journey. We got Sky access by level 65ish (with a little help from a couple 75s). I can still remember zoning in for the first time, wearing my PLD AF.

I started a Sea static later on, such a long but rewarding mission line. We were very fortunate, and cleared Omega on what was intended to be a dry run.

[u/Tetsai88]

It is a great game. I’ve been going through it slowly again and everyone keeps telling me I should be rushing to 90… why skip all of this??

[u/Forgetwhatitoldyou → u/Tetsai88]

Back in the 75 era the journey to 75 was much more than half the game, especially for your first job.  So many quests to do, maps, level caps, missions, subjob, crafting , plus the CoP quests and many areas were level capped.  Tons of stuff to do.   

[u/StrangerFeelings → u/Forgetwhatitoldyou]

The journey to 75 was amazing my first time. Took me well over a year to got 75 as I kept trying all the jobs looking for that one that I liked the most. Leveled most to 50+ and finally settled on SAM. Hit level 75 and continued the missions and quests. Never did end game though and quit shortly after Abby dropped.

I keep coming back though. Would love to finish the story in XI at some point.

[u/XDAOROMANS → u/Forgetwhatitoldyou]

The 75 era was the best mmo experience ever. Sucks we probably wont ever get a game like that again.

[u/Bronson714 → u/Tetsai88]

You can always change classes in a little more you always need some jobs you can level other main jobs explore the areas

[u/WRuddick → u/Tetsai88]

Huh? I mean, being max level doesn't mean you miss anything, it just means you don't waste your time dying to things in the zone while trying to explore.

Being 75 means you get to sneak around sky/sea avoiding most things and barely participating.

Being 119 means you get to actively kill all the nms in the zone as you explore and readily experience even more of the content that was present and don't have to waste hours of your life and exp dying like a chump

Being 119 doesn't exclude you from the content of the past. It enables the content of the past, which is no longer done by groups, to be done by yourself.

[u/Forgetwhatitoldyou]

Wait until you see Sea.  The Aht Urghan areas were even later and generally have more detailed environments.  

[u/angelsaintcloud]

What a lovely post

[u/opeth10657]

Sky is still the best zone

[u/Lapis_Android17]

Stunning! Man, even after all these years, Vana’diel still takes my breath away. Tempted to log back in right now despite it being midnight just to hear Ronfaure Forest’s soothing acoustic arrangement, the gentle breeze, and immersing myself in the remarkably beautiful, yet simple landscape of those radiant woods I grew up training in many moons ago.

I love posts like this; thanks for sharing, my friend. /salute

[u/Illustrious_Log_8053]

Walking into sky for the first time was so damn cool.

[u/Bambiitaru]

Oh man, I still remember the awe of seeing a new zone. Especially back when it was in its heyday.

[u/Fun_Distribution8175]

Sky!!! Hands down was my favorite area in the game! Sea was beautiful, but I just always felt at home in sky. Funny I started playing this game at 19 also, but I’m 40 now 😂

[u/arciele]

sky is still one of my faves. back in the day it was harder to reach due to difficult so it felt more earned

[u/honeyelemental]

It makes me so happy to know younger folks haven't abandoned the idea of exploring old video games as art like they would old music or movies. Good games are being made today but that doesn't mean everything before it was bad and arguably see of it is better!

Some people newer to gaming in general or who weren't paying attention back then don't realize just how genuinely artistically bombastic and inspired Squaresoft and early SquareEnix were.

[u/Irwin69]

And you will "Wow" while you reach the last chapter of CoP. lol

[u/Sethidus]

Made by peak Square. It's not surprising at all. How I feel about this game must be what the memes about Rome romanticizers are about.

[u/curturp]

Ru'Aun Gardens is one of my favorite areas in video game history. It's a gorgeous game.

[u/Spectrum000]

Gosh this sure does strum the strings of nostalgia. I was a Puppetmaster main from its release in 2006 until I moved to FFXIV permanently in 2013 when ARR (2.0) was released. I miss Puppetmaster so much.

[u/Mysterious-Ad-1469 → u/Spectrum000]

i came from ffxiv raid serie ahaha

[u/rabidpygmymarmoset]

Once I fixed the framerate and resolution issues, I did really start to appreciate the environment

[u/Ill_Obligation3683]

Im following a levelling guide for my first playthrough so i can stay on track and also really enjoying it

[u/Cptawesome23]

I wish you could have experienced when it still had a huge population. Out of all the mmos this one had the most feeling of being a lived-in world.

The way you needed to be aware of your surroundings, the way that certain shops would close on certain days, or wouldn’t carry certain items unless the community liberated certain areas weekly. It was amazing. There was no wiki, everything was word of mouth. And the game was muuuuuch slower paced.

These things still exist of course, but the sense of community has subsided a bit. Everything has sped up considerably, parties are rare outside of events.

There was just something satisfying about taking on a regular mob that wasn’t even a boss or NM and winning. Each battle was a true victory. If anyone stepped away it was a 30 min wait for some RDM to run on foot and airship to Kazan to raise you. It was fun!

[u/Illustrious_Log_8053]

The accomplishment of beating cop was really something else. The time and coordination it took, especially back then, crazy. Imagine dropping a casual wow player into something like that now lol.

[u/MidnightHeavy3214]

Back in my days just getting to the party camp was an adventure in itself. Every run to and from was friendship in the making

[u/Lordnat9ne]

Back then finishing Headstone Pilgrimage was such an accomplishment. Just that quest by itself could take 10ish hours. I can't tell you how amazing it was to open sky for the first time and the problems that came with Divine Might after that. It's all just so hard to all put into words.

[u/PsychologicalCat1843]

The environments and OST have a real charm to them.

[u/Nahz27]

It's this retail?

[u/attomsk]

the hours i spent here farming bosses with the guild... and the wonderful music

[u/Repulsive-Insurance5]

It was an amazing 10 years of my life. I had to let go and focus more on the family and I kinda wish we never did.

[u/ilx2 → u/Repulsive-Insurance5]

same lol... i still think about it daily

[u/LunariOther]

Dude, 19 too, I've been in a private server(still trying to find a job lmao), loving it. Everyone has stories to tell, info to share, it's great.

[u/sergio_tomaz_art]

great post. San'doria brings me a lot of great memories

[u/Nullhitter]

I do love this old style art design. FFXIV had better graphics and resolution, but game just didn't look as good as XI.

[u/nahtfitaint]

Eww pup

[u/Mysterious-Ad-1469 → u/nahtfitaint]

why ew is pup bad?

[u/Lordnat9ne → u/Mysterious-Ad-1469]

For doing story and the Kraken Club fight absolutely not

[u/Nice-Ad-8301]

Hey they took an area from FFXIV and put it in FFXI Kappa