Top MMORPGs fail on Windows Vista

Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft suffer on new operating system

January 30, 2007

It seems that many fans of the top massively-multiplayer online RPGs (MMORPGs) are facing disappointment already as they attempt to log in to their games using the latest Microsoft operating system: Windows Vista.

Vista, which became available to home consumers this week, seems to create problems for both Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft.

Square Enix, publishers of FFXI, announced in January that some PlayOnline bugs were apparent when the game is installed on Vista. Since PlayOnline is the gateway to Final Fantasy XI, it makes the game unplayable on the Vista platform.

Both Square Enix and Microsoft are investigating the issue, and a patch to address the problem is expected shortly. Meanwhile, a few makeshift fixes are floating around the Web, although few (if any) are supported and it's generally recommended that players wait for an official fix.

Meanwhile, some World of Warcraft fans are complaining about their game's performance on Vista. Even with hardware that exceeds the game's recommended specifications, the game runs more slowly under Vista than it did under Windows XP.

Some individuals, however, report that World of Warcraft seems to function under Vista if stronger hardware is available.

With a new operating system like Vista, problems using older software that is designed for XP are bound to occur. In the case of these MMORPGs, hooked gamers might prefer to hold off on upgrading their PCs until Microsoft and the game developers sort out these issues.