I started playing Final Fantasy XI fairly soon after its North American debut in 2003. For some reason, I unreasonably love how unforgiving and time consuming the game was in those days. Spending an entire week just trying to gain one level felt like an accomplishment. The massive undertaking of getting 18 people to the top of Castle Zvahl only to wipe and lose an entire nights worth of progress is an unforgettable memory. This love is nothing but nostalgia. In the moment, these were aspects of the game that drove people away.
The 2006 expansion pack, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, looked to fix many of these issues. It introduce a fast track for grinding at higher levels and the party structure became less rigid. Certain roles, like tanks, could be substituted out for damage dealers. The new region also featured a series of portals that greatly reduced travel time, so all-night expenditures were less of a thing.
As someone who leveled up on the old system, I hated Aht Urhgan. I thought it went against the tradition of the game. At the crisp age of 16, I was a grumpy old man who reminisced of the days when you had to work for your accomplishments. It was silly back then for me to be so emotional about it and is still silly now as I continue to long for those days.
I recently returned to Aht Urhgan to play through the main story. Almost 10 years after the expansion’s release, the entire region might as well be dead. The town is empty, the massive 700-player event besieged no longer happen with any frequency and some mission requirements have be waived because it’s too difficult to gather enough people to do now irrelevant content.
At first it was funny to see a once bustling region look like a ghost town. I joked with my sister about how bad it was. But when I finished the story, and it came time to put Final Fantasy XI down again, it left a pain in my heart.
Aht Urhgan is no more.
