Square Enix wants your next-born child to play FFXI on XBOX 360

Admittedly, I probably should have known better. I've played the PC version of Final Fantasy XI and was not too impressed with it. In fact, I never got past the starting area in the PC version. However, I thought maybe the console version might play better with the way the controller moves the camera and everything. Well, two weeks after buying the game I still didn't know. I should've read that the game required a hard drive and then realized that my 4GB 360 Slim didn't come with a hard drive... So, yes, that's my fault there, I'll admit that.

Fast forward to last night after I've purchased the hard drive I needed to play (this is the only one that works without unauthorized work-arounds that may damage your system, by the way). The link for the hard drive is below this post.

Okay, so the PlayOnline viewer installed in under five minutes. Good to go, right? No, not so fast. Now you have to register. This shouldn't be a big deal, should it? Apparently, Square Enix had to make this part extremely hard. Apparently, Square Enix thought that the way other games let characters enter information was just too easy...

Their not-normal cursor icon further complicates the process because you don't know which end is the right one to use. Secondly, if you don't have a keyboard attached to your controller (as I don't), you're in for some additional pain. You have to highlight the field you want to type into, then press the Y button to select the field, and then the X button to open up the keyboard to use. Then once you're done, you have to press the B button to close the keyboard and then start the process over with the next field. Okay, fast forward about 30 minutes later and I've finally finished the registration process. I thought since I downloaded and updated the PlayOnline thing that I was ready to get into the game. No, sorry, I still have to update the actual game portion of the game. It says I have one hour remaining, so I go do something else for an hour.

Now I'm back and it says complete and press X to continue. I press X to continue and now it's updating again...Now, I'm officially frustrated. Now, I have about 5 hours remaining and it's bedtime. I leave it on to update and when I wake up in the morning, it says I'm good to go. Now I have to obtain a Content ID (FFXI's version of character slots). I choose 3 for now, since they're all free for thirty days and create my male Hume. I choose Bastok and load into the game. I watch the short intro and do the initial dialog with the NPCs and find my first mission to go into the Bastok mines and get the report from the Overseer. There's a map, but it's not easy quest-finder mode-enabled like World of Warcraft. I get to the mines, and now I have no clue where to find the Overseer. I search for a while and still haven't found him. I also find out that I'm no match for even the low level "Ding Bats" in the mines (although the name does make me laugh) and without a weapon I die very quickly. I log for now, but I still want to give the game a little longer. I plan on finding a strategy guide for the quests and missions that I can not figure out on my own (I admit it, I'm not the hardcore type, I like help) and also getting a weapon in-game. If you want to try out the game, get some headache medicine (and make sure you aren't susceptible to high blood pressure) and click the link below:

Levelling up in World of Warcraft

Okay, I levelled my Worgen to level 60 (no, it's not the level cap, but it's still pretty high) within two weeks of the Cataclysm release date. I know it's not a hardcore feat like doing it in 24-48 hours, but for the casual gamers, this is more than ideal. Everybody continues to ask me how I did it. Well, I spent a lot of time playing (before work, after work, and when I should have been sleeping) for one. But I had some help. There's a guide out there (well, several actually) that helped me find the quests that I needed to level up in the most efficient way possible. My wife and I started playing are Worgens at around the same time and we had devoted similar time to them. I used the guide and she didn't. Results? She's only at level 20.... She continues to ask me why mine levelled up faster. It was simple, I wasn't spending too much time running around and getting and turning in all the quests and then going to the same area and basically killing the same mobs that she was. This guide gives you the most efficient way to pick up the quests and then turn them in, so you're not basically repeating yourself over and over again and you level up much quicker. There are also other guides available that help with professions, achievements, and dailies. There is a purchase price for the guide, but for the quality of these guides, the price can't be beat. Yes, there are other free addons out there that help with levelling, but none are quicker or better than this one. I also guarantee that there is no virus or tracking software with the guide. Click the link below to head to the guide's website.

Ultimate WoW Guide!

MapleStory?

Okay, I decided to try this one out after seeing a posting somewhere about their new mechanic class. I wasn't too interested in the class, but I had heard good things about the Free-to-play MMO from others before, so it just gave me an excuse to try the game out. I never really thought I'd be interested in a side-scrolling MMO before, but I thought I should at least give it a try. Well, apparently I had a Nexon account somewhere down the line (I probably have too many gaming accounts to remember them all) and I couldn't remember my password (apparently I got the username right) and I didn't have access to the original e-mail address I signed up with anymore. So, what's a guy to do? Create a new account with a new e-mail address, of course! Well I did that and they were supposed to send my password activation link immediately. I check my e-mail and spambox and no, they're not there. I click re-send e-mail, still no luck. I wait for a day and no, they're still not there. I click the resend activation button again two more times and wait for another day. The next day, all four activation e-mails show up in my inbox at the same time. WTF? Okay, so I sign in and download the game. The initial download for the installer takes about 3 minutes for my high-speed connection. The download for the game from the installer takes about 2 hours (which is pretty good, considering it's an MMO). So anyways, I finally get in and create my character. Apparently I don't get to pick a class (job) until I reach level 10, which I am not sure I like this arrangement just yet. I'm up to level 6 and so far, I'm still semi-interested. I had to redo how the hotkeys work (never assign a power to the "Shift" key on a Windows PC, stupid freaking Sticky Keys). I'm going to at least keep playing it until level 15 or so so I can get an idea of what the game is like once I have chosen a class. Keep tuned in, and I'll let you know my progress.

Share mission with group? Nope, not in DC Universe.

I have to say, I really like playing DC Universe Online. The fact that I can save iconic superheroes throughout the game and the fact that iconic superheroes talk to me throughout the game makes me get all giddy inside. I also like the fact that levelling up seems to go much quicker in this game than in other MMOs. But, here's the one fact I don't like. It's not very group-friendly, and it's supposed to be an MMO. All of the inside missions pretty much require a second person to complete at the correct level (Right now, I've been completing them solo at about 3 levels higher than the suggested mission level). This would be okay if I could simply share the mission with my friends. Nope, the DCUO powers that be said that they don't need that feature in this game. So, pretty much, my friends can help me complete the mission, but they really have no extra incentive to do so. Yes, this has left me basically playing the game by myself, because I simply didn't want to group up with others I didn't know in the game. This is a pretty basic feature in most MMOs (the ability to share missions or quests, that is) and for some reason, Sony forgot to put it in there. They can't claim ignorance, because this isn't their first foray into the MMO world (Everquest, Everquest 2, Vanguard. Do any of those ring a bell?), so I really can't find a good excuse as to why they did this. Post your comments below and let me know what you think about this lack of a feature.