I would not recommend this game. I didn't think it was a very good MMORPG. I would recommend WOW or Everquest instead if you really want to play an MMORPG.

This game really shouldn't have even gotten a number to it. Final Fantasy Online would have been a much better name.

Yes its totally worth it.
18(adding 2-3 more winter) classic Final fantasy classes, the world is huge and theres plenty of things to do in game. SE keeps it going with major updates every other month and plenty of small ones in between and theres 3 expansion packs currently and another due this winter.

This game is probably one of the hardest FFs, but not to the point of being frustrating, it just makes finally beating that mission/quest or getting that armor 20x more rewarding.

Contrary to popular belief FFXI also has a very good story line, the Chains of Promathia expansion is comparable to other FFs story wise and theres plenty of cutscenes (just think Zelda, where everyone talks and you're a mute) and key characters throughout the game like in any final fantasy.

Plus if you're going to play on PC its only $4 to try now.

I'm considering getting this game for Xbox 360 when i get a 360. But i'm split, i used to play everquest a long time ago, but when i tried to get back into about a year ago it just wasn't as fun anymore, i guess i was jaded by how fast paced WoW is after playing that for a couple years that EQ just didn't stack up.

But now i'm burned out on wow because the community sucks, partially due to how easy it is. I want something more difficult so that your everyday jerkwads aren't attracted to it, but i don't want something that is so hard to make allies in that i should just bank on being alone for most of the game.

So my question is this, are there established guilds and such that aren't only looking for the next hardcore player for their end game bull*$#%, and are more focused on having fun? Also, what kind of higher end content makes the exp grind worth it in the end? I don't mind difficulty or investing time, just as long as it pays off, and being an EQ veteran i obviously don't nessescarily mind if its slow, and long is it isn't mindnumbingly so.

Knowing this about me if anyone could try to sway me either way (to buy or not to buy) with specific evidence that you think i would care about than please do. I could really use the help.

EDIT: oh yeah, hello, this is my first post so i might as well say hi.

Hi!

FFXI definitely has a much steeper learning curve than WoW and is not nearly as easy a game. You could kind of compare it to EQ but really its unique. Yes there are plenty of Social Linkshells(guilds) made just for chit chat and random events, there are tons of endgame linkshells who are not just lootwhores.

In FFXI there are tons of things you can do along the way, but getting to 75(max level)unlocks a bunch of content for you.
I'll list a few:
Missions(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Missions) can be done from level 1, but the later expansion missions CoP and ToAU will be better
Assault(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Assault) you can start these as low as 50
Dynamis(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:dynamis) 65+
Limbus(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Limbus) Should be 70+
Salvage(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Salvage) 70+
Einherjar(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Einherjar) 70+
Merits(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Merit) at 75 you can earn merits to improve your character.
Theres the obious like High level notorious monsters that you'd kill for drops, KSNM99 - instanced fights with good drops.
Ballista(http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Ballista) One of the forms on PVP can start as low as level 10
just to name some. You should look around that site a bit to see what else is available.

What you'll find in FFXI that isnt in WoW or EQ:
- You have the ability to level every class on a single character without any restrictions(currently 18 classes, atleast 2 more in November) Most classic FF jobs can be found in FFXI. So antoher thing you can do once you're 75 is level a new job. Its good to have multiple jobs at max for flexibility.

- PS2,PC,Xbox360/JP,NA,EU players all share the same worlds(thres a pretty good autotranslater)

- one of the biggest ones is every mission and quest IS STORY-DRIVEN, a lot of FF fanboys like to say FFXI lacks a story. Well this is usually just an assumption by someone who has never played XI. Expect to meet interesting characters and story-lines. Every quest has some story behind it, If an NPC wants you to fetch them some flint stones they are going to tell you why. There are many quest that have great stories to follow, but the big epic ones come through missions(san'doria,bastok,windurst,RoZ,CoP,ToAU) 6 major arcs currently. The way FFXI tells the story is very unique to MMORPGs, there are plenty of high quality cutscenes through all of the missions.
see these trailers to get an idea of how the CS are without spoiling.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7323b-lKQ6c
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2ej7DJL_Ei4

-FFXI has a pretty mature community in comparison to other MMOs, theres still a few dicks and jerks, but FFXI is a team mmorpg, it forces you to group with people.. and since you'll be getting to know the people on your server well it only makes sense to be a decent person(or it'll bite you in the ass later)
One event that comes to mind is a few years back they added this big new quest that everyone was interested in... well the mobs for the quest could only be killed by one party at a time. Actual lines formed(hundreds of people) to wait for this thing, everyone could have just camped the spot and spammed checked it but FFXI is a more mature crowd. There were a few idiots that skipped, but i havent seen those people around because after openly being an ass like that its hard to get anyone to work with you. SE also added Moogles eventually that simply said "please wait in line" or something close XD. But i know if I were in WoW or PSO maybe that kind of thing would have never happened.

All I can say is it does start slow, but is worth it in the end as long as you make some friends and play the game for fun(not racing to max and whoring gear). A lot of people have a hard time coming from WoW to FFXI, but if you've played EQ then you could probably handle it. It does require a lot of time to get a character up from scratch(the more jobs you level the easier it becomes because of funds,experience,friends, etc)

Also its FF ... Moogles? Chocobo? Red mage? Odin? arent those things enough anyway XD?

Wow, that's a much more involved answer than I expected, but thanks! I really appreciate you taking the time to write that out.

And yeah, i am a fan of the FF games in general so the chance to MMO a DRAGOON just about hooked me right away. I have always loved dragoons. And i saw a picture of a red mage in themed red mage gear witch i loved as well. But i don't want to make a decision on a subscription game based just on a couple of cool things i havn't really experienced.

I found out a nearby gamestop has the PC trial disc for 2 bucks so i'm going to go get that today and try it for 30 days.

It's might be a hard transition from WoW, but like i said, i got sick of wow. The only good thing about it for me by the time i was done was PvP, but you had to sink so much raid time or PvP time to get any kind of competitive gear. I guess i just got tired of so much petty competition, now that they are offering salaried jobs to good players maybe it won't be so petty, but i doubt it.

Anywho, i don't mind slow, what i mind is if that i don't have any good players to pass the time with. But that line thing you talked about seriously impresses me, i want to play on your server, lol.

Again thanks, i'm going to go check out that site you linked a bunch

EDIT: Is it hard to make any kind of friends/allies early on? This game seems like a whole new set of MMO rules for me and i wouldn't mind teaming up with someone who can show me the ropes.

EDIT: I forgot to ask about class balance. Are all the classes equally good? i know they fill different roles, but in some MMOs i've played certain classes get kind of blacklisted because they don't really fill a roll in a party that couldn't be filled by a class that is more useful.

atm the jobs are balanced imo, but everytime they add something new its usually too strong or very weak. They do a good job of doing what the players want though. Players pretty much turned Ninja into a tank, and eventually SE gave in and supported it through gear,abilities etc. And Puppetmaster got a lot of what we wanted.

It is not hard to meet people in this game, when you start there wont be a lot of people in your starting town because the higher level towns are more popular. But if you ask someone a question about something that can be easily answered you'll get an answer 9 times out of 10.
All servers are pretty much the same, 2000-4000 people online usually, most have a good balance between EU,NA and JP players. So I'd either go here: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?cat=67 and see which server has least drama XD, Pick the one with the coolest name(all named after FF related things), or choose Ifrit.
And as for the line thing it was pretty much on every server, there were screentshots all over the forums.