Five years away and now into the Present of Today

[Asgardjr]

So between economy of Bush of then before the nay'rs of Today with Obama; moving along to the point. Left in 2007; and back in 2012. Lot has changed, I understand there will be some unpleasing discoveries along the way of re-venturing into this world. But anyone wanna just through in a quick run down well I wait for that lovely updating to finish processing. And that was one of the unplesant changes, link old ID to new ID, then win7 client since yay 1.1ver doesn't like 64bit heh. Carbuncle I presume is a dead server, thinking of going to Biszy/Bismarc. Thou abit hesitate as wasn't Biszy there in 07 with a major gil/bot issue messing up ingame market. Anyways no matter what is ... is. That's the nature of these MMO's.
Just trying to get a feel for the community and changes.
Thx for any info

[Rosina]

read the updates via ffxi forums.

but everything is easier and ppl on the servers/forums have a "leech to cap, solo content" mantality. Enjoy

[Zerich]

you don't have to party with gimps who don't gearswap anymore, and still can exp.

enjoy!

[RAIST]

IDK if I'd call it inactive now...but it's not as active as I've seen it in the past, especially with the older content. The bulk of the action has moved on to the next new thing rather quickly. A lot of shells fractured, reformed, merged....people still around, just maybe not running with the same people anymore, and getting help with older stuff can be a bit of a chore at time, but that seems to be happening widespread, not just our server. Since the last server merge, at times it feels more clique-ish. Definately seems to be a lot more of the me-me-me attitudes than we had a few years back....but that too may be a problem in general now, regardless of the server.

The key will be finding a group to run with initially so you can get caught up on content/equips and such. The sooner you can get gears caught up to what you need for the newer events, the sooner you can start joining the pick-up groups again--nothing new there, just differnt gear and different events. Exp. comes easy now though, so you can ramp up the levels fast and have a lot more fun--benefit of doing things in smaller groups I guess....less drama to deal with.

The gil seller flow seems to have shifted more towards charging to let you leech in a party (book or abyssea burns)--doesn't feel so much like their market is in the items now as it once was. The list of fast selling items has drastically narrowed though, which makes a good bit of crafting a pain in the @$$...so you may find yourself farming more to make stuff than you used to. Consumables (an/or mats to make them) seem to be more king now in the AH, along with pop items for NM's and AH'able items for completing Magian trials (Geodes/avatarites).

Bazaar is big again...lots of dynamis currency floating about, and ABC's and such. Lots of items needed for upgrading gear that can't go on AH can go in bazaar, so there's a small niche cut out there at times. Sea items may be hit and miss though...seen lots of Virtues/Deeds/HQ organs rotting for weeks at a time it seems, but that means that content is more accessible now I guess.

[Rosina]

thanks raist i just gave the short reply cuz my ps3 couldn't handle all that in one post. nut ya what Raist said i played on lakshmi, ragnorok, asura, odin and now on bahamut. pretty much that. econ on bahamut is pretty decent gear is expspensive... but least its there.... spells are cheap (lakshmi had spells for blm hitting into the mil mark) and so far everyone seems nice. heck even ppl wave hi to you randomly. peek hours we @ 2.6K players.

[Meyi]

Come to Bismarck; I'd like to have more friends. We're friendly and we won't bite.

There have been server merges over the past few years.

But a few changes off of the top of my head:
- You no longer lose EXP from levels 4~30. After 30 EXP will be reduced.
- Synergy. A new way to synthesize.
-- Synthesis no longer has a waiting period between each attempt! And guild stores no longer have a waiting period between purchases!
- Abyssea. This will be where you will gain most of your exp, armor, and gil. As soon as you hit level 30 you will want to talk to Joachim in Port Jeuno (near the stairs to the Auction House/Chocobos). He will give you a Traverser stone, which you will want to take to one of the 9 Maws for a cutscene. One of the easiest maws to get to (and one you will be using the most) is Abyssea - LaTheine's, which is found right at the entrance from West Ronfaure. Click on the maw, get a cutscene, go inside, talk to the Conflux Surveyor, accept visitant status (and use your stone), then leave and return to Joachim. With this all said and done, you will start accumulating Traverser Stones (one per 24 hours) which you will need later.
-- In conjunction with Abyssea, you will want to look into Abyssites. The first Abyssite type you want to go after is the three Celerity; these will reduce the hour cooldown between stone accumulation while also multiplying the stock you currently have. The minimum period between stones is 8 hours.
- Fields of Valor and Grounds of Valor for exp. Both are very handy.
- Level sync. It allows all members in a party to lock their level to another party member's. Only applies to a party, not the entire alliance (so each party in an alliance must have a syncer). Can only sync down, not sync up.
- Trials of Magians. Great way to build weapons and armor. At level 30 you can get job emotes with them. Level 75+ you can start building weapons and armor. Weapons vary from basic ToM weapons, elemental weapons, and empyrean weapons (which rival relic/mythic in power). The armor is the af3 set, which can be +1ed and +2ed from items obtained in Abyssea (your job's paper seals for +1, and specific gems for +2).
- Dynamis has been greatly changed. You now must purchase an Hourglass Key Item for 100k (and can buy maps from the same goblin) from the old goblins that gave the original hourglass. It's permanent and you can enter Dynamis once a day. Monsters are no longer true sound or sight and you may sneak past them. It's important to kill all of the Time Extensions, and you must proc certain monsters in certain ways (with magic, job abilities, or weapon skills depending on the type they are). Click the link to read more on it.
- Voidwatch is the new end game. Consider clearing it all even if it's not the most pleasant activity; clears give you accesses to beneficial teleports all across Vana'diel.
- Nyzul Isle Uncharted is Nyzul 2.0. I've yet to attempt it, I heard it's pretty vicious, but the armor rewards are worth it.

That's all I can think of for now.

[Komori]

Meyi sums everything up greatly and I've known him ingame for sometime. I think the game is worth giving a try and there's nothing to stop you from ending your subscription after a month or two if it proves not to be worth it.

[Nala]

Hmm not to mention level cap change, new methods of storing artifact/relic armor along with the newer tier of af3 aka empyrean gear which comes from abyssea.

one of the biggest challenges you might face off the bat is skilling up after leveling as fast as you do, beyond adding new ways to gain exp they also doubled exp on regular mobs outside of abyssea, with grounds of valor (GoV) you get additional bonus exp.

new spells and abilities along with new gear obviously for the level cap increase.

basically 11 is a far cry different from the game it was 5 years ago. i think in most cases a good way, in certain other aspects (like relevancy of the job RDM or enmity system) game still needs some major overhauling and luck be with us you may yet see some of those changes in the near future!~

[Asgardjr]

IDK if I'd call it inactive now...but it's not as active as I've seen it in the past, especially with the older content. The bulk of the action has moved on to the next new thing rather quickly. A lot of shells fractured, reformed, merged....people still around, just maybe not running with the same people anymore, and getting help with older stuff can be a bit of a chore at time, but that seems to be happening widespread, not just our server. Since the last server merge, at times it feels more clique-ish. Definately seems to be a lot more of the me-me-me attitudes than we had a few years back....but that too may be a problem in general now, regardless of the server.

The key will be finding a group to run with initially so you can get caught up on content/equips and such. The sooner you can get gears caught up to what you need for the newer events, the sooner you can start joining the pick-up groups again--nothing new there, just differnt gear and different events. Exp. comes easy now though, so you can ramp up the levels fast and have a lot more fun--benefit of doing things in smaller groups I guess....less drama to deal with.

The gil seller flow seems to have shifted more towards charging to let you leech in a party (book or abyssea burns)--doesn't feel so much like their market is in the items now as it once was. The list of fast selling items has drastically narrowed though, which makes a good bit of crafting a pain in the @$$...so you may find yourself farming more to make stuff than you used to. Consumables (an/or mats to make them) seem to be more king now in the AH, along with pop items for NM's and AH'able items for completing Magian trials (Geodes/avatarites).

Bazaar is big again...lots of dynamis currency floating about, and ABC's and such. Lots of items needed for upgrading gear that can't go on AH can go in bazaar, so there's a small niche cut out there at times. Sea items may be hit and miss though...seen lots of Virtues/Deeds/HQ organs rotting for weeks at a time it seems, but that means that content is more accessible now I guess.

Appreciate the run down; SSDD Yeah I remember in 07 when the argblah can't spell atm; came out was the biggest thing and trying to do early content for campaign was a nightmare unless in the right group.
And yeah to a quick gander what use to be 1mil for O.Kote is now a wonderfully low price; yet a ton more equipment from expansions over the years. Totally get that it will be some time before i have my gears and macro's setup for quick swap. So think i'll start by just leveling something that lvl one ish and as i begin to know the keys again better and reprogramed in the the mind from playing dragon's nest and bf3 and dropping into this again will have to pull out the old binder of notes i use to jot down see whats relavent and what is totally gone or moved.
Defiantly enjoyed the heads up ^_^ so rare to find a good chap to just say it as it is.

[Asgardjr]

Come to Bismarck; I'd like to have more friends. We're friendly and we won't bite.

There have been server merges over the past few years.

But a few changes off of the top of my head:
- You no longer lose EXP from levels 4~30. After 30 EXP will be reduced.
- Synergy. A new way to synthesize.
-- Synthesis no longer has a waiting period between each attempt! And guild stores no longer have a waiting period between purchases!
- Abyssea. This will be where you will gain most of your exp, armor, and gil. As soon as you hit level 30 you will want to talk to Joachim in Port Jeuno (near the stairs to the Auction House/Chocobos). He will give you a Traverser stone, which you will want to take to one of the 9 Maws for a cutscene. One of the easiest maws to get to (and one you will be using the most) is Abyssea - LaTheine's, which is found right at the entrance from West Ronfaure. Click on the maw, get a cutscene, go inside, talk to the Conflux Surveyor, accept visitant status (and use your stone), then leave and return to Joachim. With this all said and done, you will start accumulating Traverser Stones (one per 24 hours) which you will need later.
-- In conjunction with Abyssea, you will want to look into Abyssites. The first Abyssite type you want to go after is the three Celerity; these will reduce the hour cooldown between stone accumulation while also multiplying the stock you currently have. The minimum period between stones is 8 hours.
- Fields of Valor and Grounds of Valor for exp. Both are very handy.
- Level sync. It allows all members in a party to lock their level to another party member's. Only applies to a party, not the entire alliance (so each party in an alliance must have a syncer). Can only sync down, not sync up.
- Trials of Magians. Great way to build weapons and armor. At level 30 you can get job emotes with them. Level 75+ you can start building weapons and armor. Weapons vary from basic ToM weapons, elemental weapons, and empyrean weapons (which rival relic/mythic in power). The armor is the af3 set, which can be +1ed and +2ed from items obtained in Abyssea (your job's paper seals for +1, and specific gems for +2).
- Dynamis has been greatly changed. You now must purchase an Hourglass Key Item for 100k (and can buy maps from the same goblin) from the old goblins that gave the original hourglass. It's permanent and you can enter Dynamis once a day. Monsters are no longer true sound or sight and you may sneak past them. It's important to kill all of the Time Extensions, and you must proc certain monsters in certain ways (with magic, job abilities, or weapon skills depending on the type they are). Click the link to read more on it.
- Voidwatch is the new end game. Consider clearing it all even if it's not the most pleasant activity; clears give you accesses to beneficial teleports all across Vana'diel.
- Nyzul Isle Uncharted is Nyzul 2.0. I've yet to attempt it, I heard it's pretty vicious, but the armor rewards are worth it.

That's all I can think of for now.

I am for sure moving off carbuncle > bismarck. I have a friend that talked me into coming back since he's new to the game. And has a good set of folks playing with your welcome to add me/ Thou I do not have a ETA as with a brief moment of time wasted playing Crystal Saga that also uses that crap UltimatePay; I'm waiting on the PayPal xfer for funds to buy crysta to then do xfer. ANd boy o boy luck me got a bank that declines UK/Asia transactions but heh. ClicknBuy(UK-based)
After that Will have 3 character on Bismark lv74MNK(poorly equiped atm as raist pointed out; and he is absolutely right) and a lv idk whm for mostly lower tele's/mule and mule(one i have no idea why i have but do and logged in he was so empty i think i xfered junk from him to another mule/main lol)
So won't be entirely that bad as there all still alive ... thou i just have my doubt with the xfering characters and keeping lvls and items... and aware that will possibly have to rename characters but happens)

Synergy sounds great; thou i'm sure going to miss the old fashion mind game facing a certain direction and crafting on certain in game days lol myth or fact doesn't matter was still amusing at least to myself
Abyssea - looks really neat thou thats with one of the expansions i;m guessing huh that will be sometime before i get all of em from Nov 07 to Present Don't have the expansions yet Will by Halloween if not sooner

Dynamis hmm yeah been around for a long long time can't say i did very many of them.
And all the rest sounds great will definately try this time to get around to doing alot more.
Thank you for some of the hot links totally forgot about that site; only one i remembered with ffxi.somepage.com