Is there a base version of this game?

Hi all, I was a FFXI player way back when it first came out on 360. Stopped playing and currently play FFXIV. Decided to play this again temporarily just for fun / memories so I downloaded the 14 day free trial with the gf. Realizing we cannot party, trade, shout, use auction house we now just buy a standard version of the game to enjoy for a short time. On PlayOnline there is only the complete collection or the stand alone seekers expansion (listed as the standard edition for some reason?). Does this mean it’s all or nothing for FFXI? No way to pay and download the base game?

it's all or nothing now. if you have the base disc from way back then, you can still install it but the game will force install and download the rest of the contents anyway

Why don't you just use your old account? Why start over?

$30 for the game, $10 on sale, all expansions thrown in. Else $10 per expansion in the SquareEnix Account Management portal, if you want to spend upwards of $100 to get the game. They've always made a Collection when a new expansion came out, and replaced the core game, or previous Collection with the new one, at the same price, since the game came out. Outside of Japan, the game launched bundled with Zilart, or later expansions. Only Japan ever had it as just the core game.