Tre' didn't make it past 20, iirc. And he didn't exactly acomplish much on the side of those 20 levels as well, sorry Tre'. I understand some of his frustrations with parts, but most are just flat out wrong. Someone who didn't even make it past the early 20's in beta shouldn't be talking about what the game is like at any point, let alone the current state.
Not that I'm blaming him for anything, I just disagree with the circumstances he's judging in. Tre has good taste in games, and he probably also knows in the years I've been here that I don't have shit taste in games, so gimmie the benefit of the doubt, damnit.

I should slug you for saying FFXI = Ragnarok. Argh!
Not that I did either, on the beta section at least. I played like a dip, and wow, I really need to rewrite that entire FAQ. Maybe before the Euro launch...
Anyway. FFXI starts off kinda slow, yeah, because no one takes advantage of any of the side bitsies, everyone is woefully unorganized, and everyone just flat out sucks at that area. If you're judging FFXI gameplay while in the triforce of hell: Zulkheim/Qufim/Elshimo, well, that's just not right.
The game has a lot of little stages of evolution, where certain abilities/spells kick in, etc, but mostly player talent is what determines how fast and fun combat will be. And sadly, on my last job, although I admit I am a fucking snob, I couldn't get out of douche party's until like...LV55.
Anyway, after over a year, three characters, god...basicly all the jobs, and just now I am finally starting to get fairly high (LV73), it's still my favorite game.
One last thing I wanna say is, I can agree with timesink and slow comments, but not on the leveling, no, you can crush this game quickly with solid play, as long as you know how things tick. LV20 is like a two day weekend of solid play. It's nothing, it's piss. Back when I was working THF, I started Saturday morning and finished (no, not straight playing, fools) Sunday afternoon on working a NIN sub from 1-20.
It's the side bits that really eat the time. If I wanted to go up low ranked, poorly equipped and looking like a slob, I could easily jump on a new server, and binge to 75/37 before the Euro launch without a problem, well, maybe. When does it come out?
I'll talk some if you guys would like another opinion on things, or just wanna argue with me, but I long ago lost my spark for BBS flamewars, haha, so I won't be participating much. It's more fun to watch others hit each other with bats then get hit yourself.