FFXI was the first mmorpg I got involved with, so this is just my personal opinion. FFXI definately involves lots of your time, that is why I quit, however it needs this time because it's a very involving game. FFXI is based around the entire world instead of just leveling, like most of the mmorpgs I've played have been. You do missions for your country, the missions are very interesting and have involving plots behind them. Unfortunately, you need to have a certain level to do some missions. To get from rank 5 to rank 6, you must be at least level 55. This was a huge let down because I achieved rank 5 at about level 30. Also, in FFXI you have to rely a lot on other people. You need to have a good LS (linkshell) or a good group of friends so you can all support eachother. You cannot solo your way through the game, like in ROSE or RO, or else you will have a miserable experience. EXP is really only a small part of FFXI, thus when you log on it's almost like going into another world. This is why FFXI takes lots of time and is an addicting game.