Communication in game

Ok I am not a complete noob when it comes to MMOs however I am a new player on this game and I am really confused on how one communicates between players with in the game. I understand that tells, yells, guild chat ( or what you call FC ) all work. However their does not seem to be a way for anyone to communicate out side of these systems of talking. Like their is no server wide or area chat channel.

How does one ask a group of players questions with in the game? I know their is like some kind of "novice network" but I have no idea how to join the channel its on. I feel like a complete dumb ass but I am really enjoying this game but with some things I think this game really does not use common sense.

SO what am I missing here.

/Shout is area-wide. If you're in Central Shroud and you /Shout, everyone in Central Shroud hears you. I'm not sure exactly what /Yell does, but I think it's slightly smaller scale. /Say is a small local area chat. In parties, people use /Party. Amazingly, this game has very little spamming. People mostly only use /Shout to call hunt marks and other things. Only the major end-game hub towns have some degree of /Shout spam. There is no server-wide chat, which is nice since it would be a bot's paradise and we have no need of it with the Market Board and Party Finder anyways.

For some raiding parties, people will use Discord or some other voice chat program.

For the Novice Network, I believe you have to be invited by a Mentor (a player with a Crown icon next to their name).

A lot of mentors turn off their crowns so if you're struggling to get an invitation to the novice network don't be afraid to ask anyone who looks helpful/chatty in the starting areas; they may be able to hook you up. Or if you're still not in by the time you unlock Party Finder from the menu, set up a party request asking someone to invite you and someone out there should see it pretty quickly.

Go to gridania/limsa/uldah and /shout once or twice for an invite to the novice network, and you will likely find someone who can help in a matter of minutes. A friendly FC(guild) is also a good option for getting help in game. And on the subject of chat channels, this game also features "Linkshells", which are semi-permanent invite-only chat channels. They can be as focused or as loose as the people who make them want them to be, and getting into one or two good ones can change the way you think about the game.