Plenty of us played FFXI, and loved it. Most left for various reasons over time, but the simple fact was that, for some time, FFXI was *the* game to play after EQ (until WoW came along).

Then the next Final Fantasy MMO came out : FFXIV. I think most reviews gave it a 2/10, if that. Those who tried it know just how bad that launch was, and even those that didn't probably heard/read about it.

Now there's a reboot apparently, with an overhaul of the graphics engine, new classes, better combat, etc. It's being called FFXIV : A Realm Reborn (or FFXIV:ARR for those who can't be bothered to type those extra 9 characters).

Haven't tried beta, or read any FFXIV forums, but the general consensus in some other game forums is that it's now somewhere between "ok" and "good".
Thought some of you might be interested.

Between OK and Good is pretty accurate. I didn't get much chance to play it because I've been working during most of their weird ass beta schedule.

It's very pretty at least. Plays like WoW just enough to be "comfortable" as far as controls and feel goes. I'll probably play at launch on the Excalibur server since that is where most of the Legacy 1.0s are going that I know.

the questing system is similar to wow. combat makes more sense now, although lancer had flanking/behind moves which i found rather tedious and not exciting. i didn't delve too much into other jobs. the dialog is the same as ffxi. one line accompanied by characters gesturing and moving about. which used to be the shit but now i just can't stomach and click through most of it unless it's story related.

story picks up in late teens, kind of boring/wats goin onlol before then. still got your galkas in subligars/harnesses. i'm probably looking to roll a healer as fate events (equivalent to public quests) are sometimes lacking in the healer department.

probably won't play much more until re-release.

^^ Yeah, I actually got into beta phase 3 funnily enough, having only applied a few weeks ago for beta. Managed to experience the Friday to Monday final weekend, getting a character up to 21 Lancer / 15 Carpenter and finishing up to the Ifrit battle.

Never played v1.0, so I can't compare to that, but I did play quite a bit of FFXI so the similarities/differences there weren't lost on me, and some of the ways they've paid homage to XI were kinda cool.

Going to spare my review, but I think the initial rating of somewhere between "ok and good" is pretty accurate. Probably give it about a 6.5 / 10 rating. Enough to try out for a few months, but surely not the "next best thing".

That said, I actually enjoyed the game play of the Lancer and the positional attacks. But hey, not every class in every game is for everyone.
I also enjoyed the fact that the levelling grind is soloable, while key elements of the story require a group (and those after the best gear will need to group up for dungeon runs). Great for a lot of us who these days no longer have the free time we once did.

Almost everything that was wrong with it the last time, is STILL wrong with it now - only with a new coat of paint.