Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 11? It now has an expanded free trial which you can play up to level 75 for free with no restrictions on playtime. Yes, devotees of Final Fantasy 14 have had good times with their own free trial memes over the years, but Square Enix’s older MMO is finally bulking up its own trial in an effort to get more players in the door.
There is no longer any time limit on Final Fantasy 11’s free trial. Previously, players would be locked out after two weeks and forced to upgrade to the full game. Additionally, the level cap on the trial is now 75, up from the previous cap of 50. These changes were first announced earlier this year, and have just gone live as of today’s update.
Notably, the trial still only includes the base game, with no expansion content, and there are some key restrictions on access to social features. Notably, trial players can’t access the auction house, trade with other people, or carry more than 100,000 gil, all of which are presumably meant to limit gold farming activity.
Trial players also aren’t allowed to start parties, but they can join parties started by owners of the full game. All these sorts of restrictions will sound pretty familiar to FF14 players, and just as with that game, this trial is probably best paired with an experienced subscriber to the full game who can show you the ropes and help you party up.
In any case, Final Fantasy 11 is long overdue for this kind of free trial expansion. The memes are easy to reference, but the real reason I keep evoking Final Fantasy 14 here is because it’s the MMO I know, and that’s in large part thanks to its generous introductory trial. But Final Fantasy 14 is very much a post-WoW theme park MMO whose biggest hooks are a strong story and accessible gameplay loop.
Final Fantasy 11 is a lot crunchier and more player-driven, with esoteric gameplay systems and a big emphasis on letting players explore at their own pace and find their own fun. Some players swear by it, which is why FF11 is still running 24 years later. But when I tried it out many years ago with the original free trial, I found that the two-week time limit was far too intimidating to make much progress in understanding how the game works.
I’m not sure I can find space in my life to take another run at understanding FF11 these days, but the new free trial goes a long way toward making the possibility realistic.
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