Quote Originally Posted by NyarukoW View Post
Level 20 unlocks retainers. It doesn't take long to get there.
Well, not exactly. A level 20 main-story quest unlocks retainers. That doesn't mean you'll necessarily be there by the time your character hits level 20, not if you like to explore content or (for example) try out other classes (especially gathering/crafting classes) as you go along. Me personally, I dislike being 'railroaded' from A to B to C, which means I try to seek out any other things I can do before heading on to the next step/area, wanting to see how much the game will let me get away with before grabbing their cattle prods to get me back on track. On my first character (now sadly relegated to being an alt), I hit 50 well before doing the level 35 story-line quests. Sad? Probably. But that doesn't mean I'm the only one. One of the people I now and then play with on my current main character has hit lvl 50, but is still on the delivery quests to Costa.

It's true, if you focus on the main storyline it doesn't take too long to unlock retainers (and shortly thereafter getting your own chocobo to ride). The only thing I really objected to was the misleading "level 20 unlocks it" bit ^^