You have to have patience in order for you to experience one of the best games ever made.
I know the graphs are not the best thing in FFXI, but if you are looking to meet people from around the globe and have fun, this game has to be yours.
You can advance at your own pace throughout the game, Like all the RPG'S the lower levels are frustrating and somehow annoying, but once you get the hang of it, youll be addicted to it. (Be patient)
You'll have total freedom in this game you can do whatever you want whenever you want, you can explore the huge world, you can fight monsters to level up like crazy and get new abilities, you can complete the missions of the game, or you can just talk with people or bug them lol.
Also If you are learning a new language like Spanish, French, English or Japanese; You can practice with the people in the game, like a pen pal but better. I am teling you this from personal experience, I was practicing my japanese all the time in the game.
Once you see the cool jobs, abilities, magic and different armor that you can have for your character, you will want to level up as fast as you can so you can perform and own all this amazing things. Ofcourse you won't see this at the beginnig of the game, thats why Iam telling you again to try it for a little while and you will be amazed.