Recollection

Posted by Cinnabun at 2:59 AM


I set foot into Final Fantasy XI on October 28, 2003--the NA launch date for the PC version. It was a nonchalant venture into MMORPG, something that I didn't think would still grasp ahold of me more than five years after first playing. What a trip...


The Twinkling Treant event was so much fun..


Every adventurer has his humble beginnings. Just like my other games, I chose the most barbaric race and enlisted in the most primitive and brute of classes: Warrior. By the end of my first week of playing, I was amongst the first batch of my NA players to make it past the intimidating boundaries that surrounded our starting nations. It was an awesome feeling as I took in the grandeur of Jeuno when I initially stepped inside its walls. Stumbling upon a haven of EXP areas beneath the city was another memorable moment. I relentlessly grinded up to my level 20's the first night I came across Qufim, and held off sleep until the early hours of the morning.


Day and night became a blur


It didn't take too long to surpass most of my peers in levels and become known amongst the community of players on Phoenix server. Sleepless nights and simple Japanese phrases were what pushed me through the initial grind. As obnoxious as it may seem on my part, I could not have achieved the completion of my first set of Artifact armor without the aid of random Japanese strangers whom I sent tells to in romanji phrases asking for help. The kindness and selflessness of those Japanese strangers that were willing to help really stood out to me, which is why I guess I hold an affinity toward the Japanese that play FFXI. This was before the majority of the NA player base was even past Genkai 1 level 50 cap, so the Japanese were all I could really turn to. It would probably be nigh impossible to pull this off nowadays though.


The OG Dark Knights of Phoenix... Galkas!


I quickly found myself amongst a great group of players dedicated to making the best out of their playtime in FFXI. Together we formed the first NA "HNM" linkshell on our server.

A couple of other NA groups quickly followed suit, but in the first year, Dawn dominated the scene alongside the most powerful, already well-established Japanese shells present at the time.

It was a great feeling to be amongst the "elite" select few, and this really kept us pushing for bigger and better things. We quickly found ourselves in the top position of players who sought high-end equipment and items and nothing really stood in our way. It only took a relatively short amount of time; Dawn members learned to work together and rely on one another during the most intense battles. As a team, we could accomplish anything and everything. Our goals and aspirations were quickly being realized, but all this didn't come without a price.

I became the first member of Dawn, and the first NA player on Phoenix, to receive a coveted Adaman Hauberk!

I still remember my jaw dropping after seeing this beauty on a high level Japanese player when I was a wee-lil' lowbie adventurer. It never realistically came across my mind as to owning one for myself, but it was fun to fantasize about it and have something to try and reach for.

Once the day came when I sported my own Adaman Hauberk, I was ecstatic and in a state of shock. I even went so far as to plow through to LV75 Warrior soon after that so that I could have another job to use it on, aside from Dark Knight. In such an early point in the game's lifetime, I had already reached my "Holy Grail," so to speak. It was extremely satisfying to be able to reach these goals early on, but eventually it became the downfall of me.

As we began to progress through the end-game aspect of FFXI, my drive and motivation of playing began to dissolve. I guess at this point, after being able to accomplish so much in so short of a time frame, I had become jaded. Maybe it was the fact that I felt I "completed" my Final Fantasy XI experience. At this point of the game,I don't think there were Relics yet. There was pretty much Ridill, and Adaman Hauberk. It's a good thing I didn't win a lot on a Ridill, or else that would've gone to waste as well. Or maybe it was the strenuous everyday obligations of an HNM LS that was beginning to bog me down. Whatever it was, it didn't take long to take its toll on me. Not three months after my momentous occasion of crowning our first Adaman Hauberk, I sold my character on an impulse without any prior indication to my fellow LS mates.


Same ol' thing everyday..


Fast forward three and a half years later, after multiple attemps at restarting the game which ended at a pathetic LV7 at best, I was fortunate enough to get ahold of one of my peers who leveled the same job I did when we first started playing. I was surprised he had achieved much of what I had before I took off. His decision to retire was my oppurtunity to get back into the game with one of the two LV75s I had before, an identical set of eqiupment and of course a further mission progression than what I had available at the time I had sold my character. It was like starting up again from exactly where I had left off.

After taking over the account and changing the name back to my own, I took on a new humble perspective during my gameplay. I reunited with my first and only end-game LS, Dawn. Seeing lots of players, both Japanese and NA, with newer, rarer gear, and exploring the vast amount of content which was completely fresh to me, I set my sights high. And with SE actually giving the player base what they want with heftier updates again and again, my motivation and drive to keep playing this great game was rekindled and I felt like I did the day I first stepped foot in Jeuno. And so began the second ongoing part of my journey through FFXI.



 

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