Final Fantasy XI - Xbox 360 Beta Installation

Since I was able to play a little bit of the Xbox 360 version of FFXI at Zero Hour I have been waiting to get my hands on the beta.

One thing I've learned about myself is that I've been spoiled. Yes, spoiled. Ever since the time when I first got home with that copy of Halo 2 and ripped off the wrapper and booted up to some instant kick-ass fun I've been ruined. You see, it has taken me a total of (I'm not making this up) 2 hours and 4o minutes to install and setup the Final Fantasy XI Beta to a point where I can actually play it. Now I've just been too tired to mess with it, so I'll have to review it another time. Right now let me take you on a tour of the install process...

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You see, there is this little thing called "Play Online" which is a launching board for the Actual FFXI game. This is a necessary component for it to work. You have to go to their website and register to get a special key to install the server. You also need a special key to play FFXI beta. Once the demo disc was in I initiated the install to HDD process. The estimate was 55 minutes right off the bat. I was surprised but went with the flow. It was annoying not being able to use my 360 during this time.

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Once it finished I was ready to jump in and play the much awaited FFXI beta! ...not quite. I was informed that I needed to download and install the latest file versions - all eight-hunred or so. That would take another hour and 20 minutes!

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Finally after that nonsense I was ready to put in my 2 codes I got from the website and play! ...not just yet. I needed to fill out endless crappy forms. Like I said, I've been spoiled. This time by TiVo who has figured out the best way to use a controller to input text. FFXI beta has what could possibly be the crappiest virtual keyboard known to man. Tedious. I fought off the nagging urge to plug in a USB keyboard because I wanted to know what the average Joe would experience with this install. It sucked ass. You have to setup a PlayOnline ID/password/email which takes too long. None of the forms retain information previously input. No tab or shift key mapped. The whole time you're thinking, "sure, I've spent over 2 hours of my life so far - but this is Final Fantasy on Xbox!" ...keep the faith bother.

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I input all of the millions of codes with the completely useless virtual keyboard and finally attempt to connect when I'm greeted with this wonderful message:
I'm so aggrivated that I simply turn off my 360 and go watch the news for a half hour. There is a freaking whale visiting England!

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I come back with a cooler head and pick up the pieces where I left off. Uh, not so fast! After booting back up, the PlayOnline viewer tells me that because I didn't exit the system the proper way, files have been corrupted and updates will need to be applied again! [content edited for gross profanity] So once again I wait, but just 10 minutes this time.

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Eventually I go back in and request a content ID. This is where one of the website codes is used. Again - way too many codes/IDs to setup with that crappy virtual keyboard. I do finally get in and am greeted with the most non-intuitive game lobby (if that's what you call it). I just wanted to check out the stupid demo - you know, go around and fight monsters? Doesn't anyone remember how to fight monsters! Instead there are wallpapers and postcards to pick and characters to create. God, I just want to fight some monsters with my afro-stylin' character!

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I don't even know what the heck this is supposed to be!

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I find the actual FFXI demo and pick a world to begin... I see some creatures running around me and keyboard prompts keep popping up. I then realize that I am tired and bored and no longer care to mess with this. There was a big carboard cheat sheet that came with the demo, but I'm soooo tired. Just want to sleeep... My cousin told me that this demo is actually really good and to try it again when I am not so tired. He said he kicked off his install before he went to soccer practice and came back to 75% done. I'll try it again later in the week. For now, I'll just marvel at how my Xbox 360 HDD only has 5GB left...