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I have played probably a dozen or more mmo's over the years and this is the least intuitive and most confusing mmo I have ever played.
Both the maps and the quest logs dont really help. Literally feel like I am just wandering around aimlessly in game just hoping to stumble on where a quest is.
I did lock my mini map which I guess helped some.
Why in the world would they make this game so confusing?
Uh.. I dunno, this was my first MMO/PC game ever, and I never had a problem understanding it. o.O did you turn off your pop-up tips? There's not enough info here for me to really make any legit advice to you, but maybe this just isn't your kinda game if it's that hard.
Going off of your “hoping to stumble on where a quest is”—the main thing you should focus on as a new player is the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ). Patch 4.2 actually added a nifty little MSQ UI element that appears detailing your next MSQ, and, when you click on the element, it will pop up with a map showing you where you need to go to find the quest (all MSQ quests are marked with a meteor-like yellow emblem with an exclamation mark in the middle.
Here is what the UI element looks like (it’s called the “Scenario Guide”):
https://img.finalfantasyxiv.com/t/75...png?1526296080
The small quests at the bottom are usually important quests like class/job quests that you will need to do in order to progress whatever job you have chosen to play as (in your case, the class Arcanist, which actually has 2 job options when you hit level 30–Summoner or Scholar).
there are exclamation point markers for all quests. the ones with a smoke ring around them are Main story quests. There is a link in the top left corner of your screen which always shows your current Main story quest and class quest if available. not sure what else you need.
When you do find quests, do you let them pile up?
Our quest tracker is actually quite good, and clicking on an objective will in 99% of cases open up the map to exactly where you need to go next. Its one failing is that it's strictly limited to five quests. If you have more than five quests active and you want objectives to appear on the map for a quest that is not one of those five, you need to (a) explicitly turn on tracking for the quest you want to track or (b) explicitly turn off tracking for one of the five that are being tracked.
Besides that, use the Scenario guide like HyoMin said. It tells you where your next main story quest is at all times (useful for when there's a level gap--ugh levels 45-47) and your class/job quests as they become available.
I'm not sure if you are playing on console or PC but on console, square is my bffl button. One click opens up my map and a second allows me to scroll with the analog to look around the map. Look for MSQ icons that may be at the exits of the particular area which alert you to which zone you need to go to next to find that quest. It is a lot to take in at first but stick with it if you can and before long it will seem second nature.