Final Fantasy XI is one of those games that will always hold a special place in my heart. If you never played during its ‘prime’ you may feel like this is an odd statement to make about a video game, but FFXI was more than just a game for so many people. The community, in-game music, and the levelling style was, and is, just so unique. No other game has ever come close to what FFXI was back in the late 2000’s. Even to this day I will put on random FFXI music that can be found on YouTube and be flooded with nostalgia.

FFXIV unfortunately didn’t follow the same style as it’s older sibling, and opted to choose a more tradition MMO path, similar to World of Warcraft. To keep FFXI current in today’s gaming culture, Square Enix changed FFXI so much that it barely resembles what it once was – and for that reason, I struggle to play on official servers. The magic of Vana’diel just seems to be lost now, as all people are interested in is gaining every single REMA weapons that the game has to offer. REMA weapons, originally, were incredibly rare and would take Linkshells months/years to create for just one person.

Luckily, a few private servers have been created over the years which focus on pre-abyssea FFXI. In my opinion, everything after Treasures of Aht Urhgan (which we will refer to as ToAU from hereon), was not great. Maybe it was an attempt to make content more accessible, or an attempt to keep subscriber numbers, but for me it is what lead me to eventually quit.

I’ve played most of the FFXI private servers that have come out over the years, including the ones which were taken down, but I will not mention them in this article as I wish to look at FFXI Eden completely objectively.

What is FFXI Eden?

FFXI Eden, Eden FFXI, Edenxi, or simply Eden, is a private server dedicated to recreating the level 75-cap of the ToAU era of Final Fantasy XI. There are a few minor tweaks to improve quality of life to the game (like DRG’s 2-hour ability not being call wyvern), but in general the server is as close as possible. The server is based off of the Darkstar Project and it seems that they have their own development team, who seem to fix bugs and missing mechanics rapidly.

Server Information

Expansion Era: Treasures of Aht Urghan.

EXP Rate: 1x.

Fame Rate: 1x.

Skillup Rate: 1x.

Movement Speed: 40. (era default)

HP Warp + Explorer Moogles: Disabled.

Fields of Valor: Disabled.

Level Sync: Enabled.

EXP Bands: Original Values.

Discord server: https://discord.gg/uKgpypT

Server URL for Windower/Ashita: play.edenxi.com

Website URL: https://edenxi.com/

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The process of creating your character on Eden is very easy. In fact, it felt so easy I figured I had done something wrong during set-up. Long gone are the days of watching that cursed PlayOnline client update for hours on end, only for it to crash towards the end when you were asleep.

Step 1: Download the client

Before you make your character you’ve obviously got to install the game first right? Don’t panic, there are no pesky PlayOnline updates to worry about here. Go to https://edenxi.com/ and on the left you will see a link to ‘Install’.

The link will take you to a forum page with links on downloading the various versions of the client, depending on what your computer specifications are. The main 3.0 installer link takes you to a file hosting website that allows you to download the client fast. The client is just under 6GB and downloaded very fast.

Step 2: Unzip and install

Once the zipped file is download, unzip it with your favourite unzipping software, Double-click the installer application and follow the onscreen instructions. There’s nothing out of the ordinary here; it’s the same as installation process as any other program you’ve ever installed.

You might want to change the installation path if you have retail FFXI installed though. I am not sure if it will conflict with it.

Step 3: Creating your account

Now that everything has installed, it’s time to create your account. I did spend a little time searching around the forum for the account creator until I realised it was done within the client.

Double click Ashita, which by default is located here: C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\Ashita. There are a couple of pre-made loading options available, but you can edit and change them later. Just pick anything for the account creation process.

A very DOS-looking box will pop-up. This box is how you login and make new accounts.

Type 2 and press enter to begin the account creation process. Choose a memorable and safe account name and password. Your account name will not be your character name, so don’t worry about picking something ‘good’ for now.

Once that’s been completed, you will be able to login via typing 1 and pressing enter, and filling out your details.

If everything has worked correctly, you will be greeted by this:

Step 4: Making FFXI high-definition

I won’t go too much into detail on how to make FFXI look HD, as there are a few posts already available that explain everything fully. So all i’m going to do is link out to them for your convenience.

Improving XI Graphics for Dummies

Make your FFXI Client HD plus updated text/icons

Final thoughts

Hopefully this article has helped convince you to give old-era Vana’diel another try. If anything written here is outdated or incorrect, please let me know in the comments below and i’ll rectify it.

If listening to this doesn’t make you want to rush back into FFXi again, I don’t know what will!