Returning player with some questions.

[mobilesuit89]

Hello. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I took a break from Final Fantasy XIV for awhile to let the game get some updates until I start back, I was on of the people that started playing back when the game first released. But after seeing the new festival coming out it made me excited to get back into FFXIV. I plan to start over since my current character that I made is a low level and it was just made to mess around with. But anyway, here are my questions.

1. Which server would be best for someone who lives in the U.S and has a good amount of English speaking players? I live on the East Coast but if the server has more Pacific Coast players that is ok.

2. I feel kind of embarrassed to ask this one since some people look down on it. But is it ok if I choose to make my new character a Miqo'te even though I am a male in real life? The Miqote are interesting to me because I have never played something like them before. But since they can only be Female I thought that it might be a problem if I choose it since I am not the same gender.

Edit: I just now noticed that my current my current character is a Midlander Female / Hyur, after seeing her picture on the Lodestone it made me think... dang she looks really nice! Oh well, still I might have a second character as my crafter instead of having just one do everything. I will have to think about it.

3. Is Gridania still a bad starting area? Usually I choose Ul'dah since it seems to be a good starting area. I would choose Limsa Lominsa due to it being a cool place, but I can't stand the way the NPC's talk, lol.

4. Is it a pain to gear up a character? Or would it be a bit easier to do something from the Disciples of the Land and Disciples of the Hand to make my own items?

5. Last question, can I just stick with the Disciples of Magic? Or should I also go into the other classes from the Disciples of War?

I thank you for any answers you can provide and thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

From what I have seen from the developers it looks like they are really trying to get Final Fantasy XIV back on its feet and make it the best game they can. After reading over the patch notes it is amazing the difference between the former lead dev and the new lead dev and dev team. I am looking forward to getting back into FFXIV.

[Perrin_Aybarra]

Welcome back!

1- I don't know much about which server is best so i can't really help you with this.

2- You play the race/gender that you want. I think the majority of players do not care, it's your character and you can play whatever race/gender you enjoy looking at for endless hours. Plus, I am pretty sure that more than half the miqotes are guys in RL.

3- I like Gridania, it's where i am most of the time but Ul'Dah is still the place where everyone is the majority of time and where the trade happens. Altho it doesn't matter much where you start, once you start doing rank 20+ leves for marks, you will have to go to the city where that specific guild is.

Also I started over with patch 1.18 and started in Gridania again, I enjoy that place

4- You get some gears from leves and low level items are not really expensive (on rabanestre anyways) and gils come more easily the higher you get. It's always good to level a DoH or 2 if you don't mind it and enjoy it to an extent since it helps with repairing gears as well.

5- I leveled DoM exclusively and don't have a problem with it.

With all that, welcome back again and I am sure you will find the game changed a lot a lot more fun to play.

~Cheers

[Kinseykinz]

1. Which server would be best for someone who lives in the U.S and has a good amount of English speaking players? I live on the East Coast but if the server has more Pacific Coast players that is ok.

I know my server Rabanastre has a large NA player base. More important is to find yourself a LS that has people who play around your playtimes. (Again, our server has several and there is a list of some shells in the Rab. server forums) Other Servers have a large NA base as well, I just can't speak to which ones.

2. I feel kind of embarrassed to ask this one since some people look down on it. But is it ok if I choose to make my new character a Miqo'te even though I am a male in real life? I am tired of playing as a Human and an Elf. Also I am not into big hulking races like the Roegadyn and even though the Lalafell are cute I just can't see myself playing a race like them. The Miqote are interesting to me because I have never played something like them before. But since they can only be Female I thought that it might be a problem if I choose it since I am not the same gender.

LOL...okay you should play as whatever character type/race you want. No one else should have a say in the matter. Most people walking around as Miqote's are male, we all know this, and most of us accept it. I could see this maybe being an issue if you were planning on playing the game as a role-player, but if you just like the character and have no plans of passing yourself off as a lady, no harm no foul imo. Also, if you create a female character, you can't get offended if people assume you're a girl and refer to you as such in game.

3. Is Gridania still a bad starting area? Usually I choose Ul'dah since it seems to be a good starting area. I would choose Limsa Lominsa due to it being a cool place, but I can't stand the way the NPC's talk, lol.

Again, while yes, the majority of the player base still hangs out in Uldah, you should choose a starting city YOU like. I'm from Gridania and I chose it because I liked it's look/feel the best (and it's storylines) but I also wanted to be a Conjurer and a Botanist. Gridania has both of those guilds. Also, now that you can set a homepoint, starting city is less important. (you can start in LL but ride the ferry, walk to Uldah and set it up as your 'home'). Lastly, now guildmarks are only awarded from leves issued from the city containing that guild. So if you want to play MRD, LL might be your best 'home' since it has your guild.

4. Is it a pain to gear up a character? Or would it be a bit easier to do something from the Disciples of the Land and Disciples of the Hand to make my own items?

Probably depends a little on the server and your patience, how quickly you make gils, friends etc. But you can buy lower ranked gears on our markets for a reasonable price if you know what/how to look for it. Also, some quests grant gears now (you could do those to get some decent items). Also, you can get fairly good gears for ranks 25-45ish just by killing the smaller NM's (no gils needed, just time and a friend or two.). This being said, ranking a craft and/or gathering will help you make more money and might benefit you in the long haul (you can fix your own gear or farm mats for a friend to craft you a new hat with for example).

5. Last question, can I just stick with the Disciples of Magic? Or should I also go into the other classes from the Disciples of War?

I stuck with Disciples of Magic as my battle class jobs. I currently am rank 50 CON and rank 42 THM. I also started messing around with Archer, but that was just because 'Hey, I have the time and want to hang out with my lower-ranked friends.' I don't ever plan on being a dedicated archer. You can be a dedicated mage in this game just fine, and while some job abilities from other classes can help, they are not necessary to playing your Mage class efficiently (it is advisable to rank both mage classes since having access to both sets of spells/abilities is handy).

I hope this helps you a little

[mobilesuit89]

Wow... what great answers! Thank you very much Perrin_Aybarra and Kinseykinz for taking the time to answer my questions, it helped me a lot!

Also thank you for answering my Race question, it is nice to see that you did not make fun of it and it helped me feel better about choosing the Miqo'te. And no I am not the type to pretend to be a Female ingame while playing a Female character... I find that creepy. In some games people play a Female character and pretend to be a woman in real life to get free gear, lol. I was unsure how that is in FFXIV and if it was a common problem I might think twice about making a female character. And yes I doubt that I will be doing any type of role-playing, if I ever do decide to get into it I will make a Male character.

I am glad to hear about the ability to set your homepoint, I did not know that. I do plan to level both DOM classes since I figured they would both work together really well. And I will probably choose the class that makes cloth gear for the DOM.

Again thank you very much for taking the time in reading my questions and answering them, I really do appreciate it.

[Zemeckis]

I see no problems with playing a female in game i am a guy irl but i love playing females in mmorpg's.And the reason for that is simple SEX SELLS and i would rather look at a chick in game then a guy...

[mobilesuit89]

I see no problems with playing a female in game. I am a guy irl but i love playing females in mmorpg's and the reason for that is simple, SEX SELLS and i would rather look at a chick in game then a guy...

Well, my reasons for playing a Female character is different than yours. After playing Male characters for so long it gets a bit old, all the RPG games I have played are Male characters.

I thought for once I would make a Female, but it mainly depends on how they look. I like normal looking Female characters, not busty or overly "pretty" to the point where it looks unatural. In Final Fantasy XIV the Females don't look like that, they seem more real to me. Also the armor for the Females actually look like real armor, unlike in some games where they can run around in bikini armor. Thats where the term "less armor equals more protection" comes from, lol.

[Zemeckis]

You never played FF X-2 have you or 13?

Well, my reasons for playing a Female character is different than yours. After playing Male characters for so long it gets a bit old, all the RPG games I have played are Male characters.

I thought for once I would make a Female, but it mainly depends on how they look. I like normal looking Female characters, not busty or overly "pretty" to the point where it looks unatural. In Final Fantasy XIV the Females don't look like that, they seem more real to me. Also the armor for the Females actually look like real armor, unlike in some games where they can run around in bikini armor. Thats where the term "less armor equals more protection" comes from, lol.