Ugh! Just returned and am frustrated.

[Enkidoh]

Welcome back to Eorzea! If you cannot find where to pick up the main storyline, after doing the initial tutorial quests in the Adventurer's Guild (where you're sent to attune to the city's aetheryte, to speak to an npc at the markets and enrol in your starting class's Guild), after you finish that quest, just speak to the Adventurer's Guild proprietor again (Miounne in your case) to continue the storyline (the next one is a level 4 story quest). She'll send you to the Bannock, a small camp in the Central Shroud.

If Miounne doesn't have a quest currently available, either you still have the tutorial quest active or she's already given you the one to go to the Bannock. You can check by opening your journal - it will automatically open to the main storyline and any story quests you currently have active. You can also view the map on the journal if you're unsure where to go.

As for the changes to the game that a returning player has to contend with, there was a page on the old Lodestone that listed everything that had changed in the transfer and the differences a returning character has over a new character (certain features are unlocked by default to a returning character which normally require a new character to play through the storyline to unlock), can be found here: http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...a1dd51085f4be3 It should be noted that some of the content available to a returning character is actually dependent on whether or not you actually gained it in 1.0 - for instance, the Armoury System is actually locked by default in ARR to a new character until they reach level 10 in their starting class and complete the class quests for their class's Guild to level 10, by which it's then unlocked. They then have to go to each Guild in turn and enroll at that guild to actually unlock that class.

A character returning from 1.0 however has all their classes (and Jobs) already unlocked, provided you had gained exp in them. If you neglected to level a class in 1.0 it will be locked and unavailable until you play through your starting class's guild quests and 'unlock' the Armoury System just like a new character. This happened to me when I started in ARR (back in Phase 4) - I only had exp in CNJ and GLA in 1.0 and hence was only able to switch between the two until I had done all the CNJ Guild quests to the level 10 one, and then unlocked every other class after this. It's confusing and restrictive I know, compared to how in 1.0 you could simply change class at will from the start, but that's the decision SE has made. As someone else mentioned if you unlocked a Job in 1.0 you'll also have that Job crystal at the start as well, and can simply switch to if you so desire - although I'm not sure if you can do the class quests while the Job is active.

As you found out airships are not available in this way however - you indeed have to play through the starting city's storyline and at the end airships are unlocked for you FFXI style. There is a story reason which is revealed in time which I won't mention, but for technical reasons I believe the restriction was placed so as to allow new players to gradually work through the content in a more formal structured way instead of being inundated with content and options right from the start (and before you pass judgement we didn't have airships available from the start in 1.0 either - they didn't come til patch 1.19 after all ).