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A group of gamers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Square-Enix claiming that the company used deceptive marketing practices in advertising Final Fantasy XI.  The logic of the lawsuit is as follows:

• Every Final Fantasy game to date hasn’t required a monthly fee.
• Final Fantasy XI, being an MMO, requires a fee.
• Requiring a fee for a series that doesn’t normally require a fee is too much for the average consumer to handle.

Really, I wish them the best of luck in their lawsuit and I hope that it doesn’t hurt them too much when the judge throws them out of the court.  Final Fantasy XI was advertised and marketed as an MMO from the get-go.  The box clearly advertises a free 30-day subscription on the front which implies that there will be money changing hands at some point to keep the subscription going.  I try not to be overly judgmental or snarky here at Insert Credits, but there are times when the stupidity shines forth so brightly that it burns.

There is good news from this though.  If they do happen to win then I’ve got a great idea for suing Blizzard for luring me into the Warcraft universe with a series of blockbuster strategy games before switching to that silly fee-based platform for World of Warcraft.

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So the trial account I’m playing on is almost over. It’s sad, but hopefully I can get on a full account and continue to play. I keep hearing how everything picks up in the later levels and given the chance to hit 75 on a White Mage, I’d be the best healer on my server. Unfortunately, as of this post I am only level 16 and not quite the best at anything outside of killing low level birds for EXP.

I said it in last week’s edition of MMO Monday, and I’ll repeat it here. This game is unforgiving in every single aspect, but it is also quite rewarding. Fishing in this game actually requires a modicum of skill — when you get a bite on your line you actually have to wrestle the fish down by pulling the joystick in the opposite direction that the fish is swimming. You have to work for your meal instead of a simple click-once-the animation-plays.

I’ve been told that the game has actually taken steps towards helping players level up in recent times. Field Manuals can be found at outposts around the world, offering training regimes for a player to do (read: kill ‘x’ amount of ‘y’, earn bonus exp). Items such as the Chariot Band can be obtained and used to get a boost in EXP from anything you kill.

In terms of armor, it is advisable for you to upgrade your armor as often as possible for most jobs, but as a White Mage you can get away with only upgrading once every five levels or so. Personally, I managed to go the first thirteen levels in starter gear — until finally getting a set upgrade and a sweet, sweet hat.

Next week, my trial will officially be up, and I’ll wrap up with final impressions of the game, how awesome the scenery is, and a big thumbs up to the community on the Siren server.

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Having recently acquired a copy of Final Fantasy 11 and all current expansions for the 360 I decided that since I lack a computer capable of satisfying the craving for an MMO I would give FFXI a shot. I played it briefly back when it first came out on the PS2, but haven’t given it a second thought since then. It wasn’t very long until I realized why — the only option one has for a subscription to Final Fantasy 11 is to pay by credit card. They don’t accept PayPal and don’t offer subscription cards like World of Warcraft does, meaning the barrier for entry compared to something like WoW is higher.

But a good friend of mine scrounged up a link for a trial account to the game, and after sitting through a 70 minute install and then a 5 hour update process, I was ready to go.

Deciding to do what I generally do best in MMOs, I quickly rolled a TaruTaru White Mage and set off on my journey to become the most badass healer on the Siren server. The character creation is minimal — choose your race, gender, and then you are given  a few facial expressions to choose from, and a few preset hair styles/colors.

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