As the first on this thread, a serious question...

[slakyak]

This game is so cheap to pick up now, there's still a month free and it will run on old pc gear so there's bound to be a few new players joining up to see what the MMO is all about.

I joined to see if I'd like the MMO style of game before I dove in to FFXIV when it comes to PS3... not sure I'd have moved over yet even if it had been released though (there must be a thread going on that somewhere....)!!

As a new player I've had plenty of people take me under their wing and sometimes lowbies can even help high level players with trials (killing hundreds of worms while I levelled and he counted them off springs to mind!). Also people seem to be trying out new jobs etc so this area of the forum \should/ be a good thing.

[Tyi]

Yes it seems to be the same on most servers. Most of the population are level 90's. Even new players which doesn't really make sense.

I heard SE are putting a lvl 75 cap on Abyssea, so players must be at least lvl 75 to go to Abyssea. Which I think would correct the game and make the it balanced again. New players will have enough time to learn about their jobs even with the new experience boost in original Vanadiel areas. However what about all the players who obtained multiple level 90's in a matter of days?

[Kimiko]

Agreed, but from personal experience (having leveled monk from the ground up just recently). SE does need to do a better job getting low-level folks the tools they need to succeed in the early levels. Opening up AH access to all nations would be a good step in that direction. Also, making low-level gear more readily accessible will help as well.

[lowkey]

In my experience over the past two, or three years, the majority of new people I meet, aren't completely new. They are returning players, who for whatever reason are starting over from scratch, or existing players leveling one of their mules. You do run into totally new players every now and then, but not really all that often. The game is mature at this point, and just about anyone who is interested in trying it, already have.

That said, it would be cool to see SE try to attract new players though. This is an awesome game, that just keeps getting better. Unfortunately it's always been a niche game. Most people I know in real life have never even heard of it, and the ones who have are strongly biased against it due to issues that have long been resolved, or never existed to begin with.

[Lukielucas]

Agreed, but from personal experience (having leveled monk from the ground up just recently). SE does need to do a better job getting low-level folks the tools they need to succeed in the early levels. Opening up AH access to all nations would be a good step in that direction. Also, making low-level gear more readily accessible will help as well.

The only problem i find with the merging of the AH, is that the gears and stuff are so expensive... i mean phalanx for a new player on sylph would be expected to pay around 700k for a scroll which to me is very expensive and very unfair on a new player compared to how they would be able to make gils so earlier in the game.... it's things like this that makes people resort to gil sellers (not that i ever brought my gils) but I do find it's very hard to make gils from time to time and i've been playing for 2 years....

[Kisuke]

I have seen a fair few new and returning players on Asura. In fact, it seems like you see a couple new posts every day over on the Allakhazam forums about a new or returning player starting. Granted, the majority of those posts are "What has changed since I quit?" and "Which server should I join?", not asking actual questions. Maybe having official forums available will lure some newer folks here...

As far as Abyssea leeching goes, I've definitely seen a resurgence of parties after the experience-boost update. More people looking and quicker invites. For my time spent I'm happier to make 400-600 a kill right now than wait hoping for a Abyssea leeching spot then wait an hour+ for the xp to build up. For me, it's much more satisfying to properly party anyway!

[Dameshi]

A friend of mine helps new players all the time. Nearly every day she's helping someone break a level cap, or get kazham keys, AF, etc. There are still new players out there, just gotta find them :P

[Jeanluke]

What I think makes it hard is that a lot of the people who had crafted in years past are not, or are crafting other things or doing synergy. As a result there is less crafts going in and out of the auction house. I don't see combining the auctions of all towns alleviating this issue. It is a help though as those who craft might find it easier to do so if the can sell in more areas.

[ShadowHeart]

even with the influx of new players i ran a naked mule from 1-10 in 47 minutes no ring naked with a sword only no pl or books. simple you say? lol so out of giggles before the level increase i ran a mule from 1-90 no sub job with capped h2h in under 2 weeks even has hand ful of atma and zone boss wins and af3 in that time.... what used to take us years to accomplish can be achieved in a few weeks . i have been playing since '05 and if i sat down grinded i could probably accomplish an identical char minus some of the gear in a few months with everyjob at 90 :s is it a farewell to ffxi ? is it a wow retake? some of us old timers get upset at watching noobs with equivalent jobs we worked years to get but others embrace the change as its a game and just fun to play but it all comes down to whther the game is still right for you or not i still enjoy helping new people and remember the day it used to be me . But the times coming where i dont have much left to do anymore because everything is being handed to us on a silver platter i have almost all 20 jobs at 90 now and almost every job has full set of af3+1 and working on +2 on some but where to next? even that is all low manable now

[Revalus]

even with the influx of new players i ran a naked mule from 1-10 in 47 minutes no ring naked with a sword only no pl or books. simple you say? lol so out of giggles before the level increase i ran a mule from 1-90 no sub job with capped h2h in under 2 weeks even has hand ful of atma and zone boss wins and af3 in that time.... what used to take us years to accomplish can be achieved in a few weeks . i have been playing since '05 and if i sat down grinded i could probably accomplish an identical char minus some of the gear in a few months with everyjob at 90 :s is it a farewell to ffxi ? is it a wow retake? some of us old timers get upset at watching noobs with equivalent jobs we worked years to get but others embrace the change as its a game and just fun to play but it all comes down to whther the game is still right for you or not i still enjoy helping new people and remember the day it used to be me . But the times coming where i dont have much left to do anymore because everything is being handed to us on a silver platter i have almost all 20 jobs at 90 now and almost every job has full set of af3+1 and working on +2 on some but where to next? even that is all low manable now

I think part of the issue is that people get so up-in-arms over it not taking as much time to "catch up," but many of them are not as willing as you to help new players. It took you a short period of time to run a mule to 10 not just because of the experience overhaul, but because you knew exactly what you were doing; you've done it at least 20 times. FFXI is a rather obtuse game when most of the new players are coming from the one-job-per-character-hotbar-hand-holding-quest-driven MMOs. That doesn't make it bad, but it is often perceived that way.

I returned a few months ago, and I'd love to find new players. (I'm on Sylph and share a name with my forum name.) About three of my friends have joined in the past two months, and it's been a lot of fun getting them through rank missions, doing sub job items, and the like. We've been doing roaming parties (as opposed to camping parties), and getting more EXP than our IT++ camping parties once did, and it's been a blast. Frankly, with the EXP update, we've found that our weird (and incredibly more entertaining) style of play has even become quite profitable. Here's to hoping you find similarly revitalizing methods of enjoying the game. (Also, congratulations on the utterly masochistic task of doing a subjobless run! I knew there had to be somebody that would try it.)