Since then, I have half-followed the story as best I could from the outside, but I have never had the opportunity to really experience FFXI.
Final Fantasy XI came out at a very hectic time in my life, as I was preparing to deploy to Iraq. My name is Dirk, and I have been a fan of Final Fantasy games since I was a kid. The server went online in the beginning of September, 2020, and began public player recruitment in the middle of that month. That is why I created Syldra, a progression server with the goal of giving everyone the opportunity to experience the storyline and content of FFXI in the order that it was released, though on an accelerated (but flexible) timescale. On top of that, the systems strip the world, especially the lower level zones, of their populations, as well as removing the requirement that you join other players to take on content. When attempting to fix this, Square Enix added many features that did in fact make the process of leveling to 99 more 'painless', but they also add another layer of complexity for a player who is returning to Vana'Diel or experiencing it for the first time. In addition, memories of FFXI as it was in its early days may put off players who want to experience the story, but do not want to go through the incredibly long and slow process that leveling to 75 used to be.
With 18 years of content, dozens of different storylines, some of which overlap, and not any really good indicator of which events are supposed to happen in which order. Returning to Vana'diel can be daunting, especially if you've been gone for a long time.