PDA

View Full Version : I last played in 2004! And now I'm back!



Treadstone
04-08-2012, 08:23 AM
Hi, everyone! Lovely to meet you all.

I'm pretty much a stone-cold newbie to FFXI again. I played for about a month back in 2004 when the game had just come out for the PS2. To be honest, and I hope this doesn't upset people too badly, I wasn't a big fan of the game. I really enjoyed the lore, the music, the atmosphere, the art style, and the world Square created. However, I found that the level of dedication and time commitment the game asked of me was too much for me to handle. I was toward the tail end of my time in Kazham when I realized that all I had been doing for hours and hours was sitting next to zone entrances, having a specific kind of mob dragged over for my party to beat on. There were so many awesome-sounding zones, but it seemed like leveling parties only utilized about 5% of the game world, ignoring the rest.

The game passed out of my mind for years, but lately I started to wax nostalgic for it. I grabbed a hold of the free trial and I'm currently exploring and gathering quests around Windurst. I'm really enjoying the UI for the PC, and I am stoked about the Quickening buff that lets you get around a bit faster. However, I had a few questions to ask so I know what to expect when I actually get out of town and start fighting.

1. Is White Mage still the best subjob if you plan on soloing as a pet class? I'm thinking of going BST.

2. I plan on soloing a lot but I'm also interested in grouping. How does grouping feel like these days? I really like how in other MMOs, your group is mobile, traveling across the landscape or through the dungeon and slaying enemies as the group comes across them. I was not a big fan of hunkering down in a corner for an hour, killing crabs ad infinitum.

3. From what I've seen, you still have to search harder for quests in FFXI than in most other MMOs. Is there some sort of online resource that lists where I can find quests and what level of city reputation I need to pick them up?

4. Back when I played, crafting was generally not something you would pick up at level 1 and work on as you leveled. It was very expensive to get started. Has this changed at all?

5. I remember gil being very difficult to earn. I was so desperate for money back in 2004 that I found myself camping NMs for hours - I never managed to kill one. I ended up farming Sarutabaruta for crawler silk, but I didn't have much luck or fun doing so. I was only 16 at the time so perhaps I was just stupid and gil has always been easy to earn. It wouldn't surprise me!

This last thing isn't a question but an appeal. I don't have any friends who still play XI, so I would be very happy if a good linkshell would take me under their wing. I am very well-spoken, polite, and though I won't be much help at this low level, I certainly will aid others once I accumulate some power. I play on Bahamut. I'm on a trial account so my messaging abilities are restricted, but my character's name is Murara. I am not sure if trial accounts can join linkshells. If not, I would still find having a friend or two very helpful and a little less lonely.

Thank you for your valuable time! I'm excited to revisit Vana'diel.

Zerich
04-08-2012, 04:43 PM
Trial accounts cannot join linkshells. You're also capped at 100k gil (i think). You have a perma-cap of level 30 (which nowadays is the new level 18)

1. BST/WHM to level 10, BST/DNC for everything else.

2. Depends on the type of group you join. Basically, the Ground Tomes (which is the only low-level party you will be getting) will have you running back and forth between a few mobs. The only area that would have a wandering party (that's efficient) for lowbies would be MMM (Moblin Maze Mongers), but no one does that anymore...so yeah.

3. wiki.ffxiclopedia.org and/or bluegartyr wiki

4. If you want to seriously craft beyond entry levels, you're going to need to shell out some dough.

5. There are many ways to earn gil, the Grounds Tomes gives a nice boost of gil every in-game day, for new players. Most you can always fish. Most good gil-making methods requires you to have a high leveled job.

I'm on Leviathan :/ good luck in finding people on your server!

bungiefanNA
04-11-2012, 05:44 PM
Dancer makes a good solo melee sub, since you spend TP to heal yourself. You have to have Wings of the Goddess to unlock it though.

Gil is really easy to get now, with Field Manuals and Grounds Tomes giving it out for the quest completions, and cruor in Abyssea being easily convertible to gil. You also don't regear every 5 levels anymore, since Level Sync locks you to a small level range in parties, and low level gear doesn't matter when it's 18 people on one enemy.