How do I find a Troubled Adventurer?

[Rongway]

And that's another reason why people should read MSQ

In the case of retainers, it's not that simple.

The event in the MSQ that unlocks retainers is unmissable; however, trial players cannot hire retainers. Some people may buy the game long after the point in the MSQ where retainers would have become available if they were paying a sub. Because of the restriction on trial players, at the very least there should be a prominent help window that appears and explains retainers for anyone who purchases the game after that point in the story. Really, this help window should appear for subbed players as soon as retainers become available, because some people skip cutscenes and it's within their rights to do so; but even if one were to take the position that people should just "read MSQ" it's not the fault of trial players if they don't remember they can hire retainers when they eventually buy the game.

[Jojoya]

I ran into the same problem. Apparently you can only see this NPC on your home-world. Trust me i found out the hard way, even ended up with this old post before I tried it. So instead of joining the army of the ever-present condescending pedantic nobodies and their comments, I believe this necro might help future adventurers looking for this elusive NPC! Enjoy!

Anything retainer related is exclusive to the character's home world. Definitely helpful for the rare player who adventures at low levels on a different world but most should have no problem since they're more likely to be on their home world.

In the case of retainers, it's not that simple.

The event in the MSQ that unlocks retainers is unmissable; however, trial players cannot hire retainers. Some people may buy the game long after the point in the MSQ where retainers would have become available if they were paying a sub. Because of the restriction on trial players, at the very least there should be a prominent help window that appears and explains retainers for anyone who purchases the game after that point in the story. Really, this help window should appear for subbed players as soon as retainers become available, because some people skip cutscenes and it's within their rights to do so; but even if one were to take the position that people should just "read MSQ" it's not the fault of trial players if they don't remember they can hire retainers when they eventually buy the game.

Skipping the cutscene shouldn't make a difference. The game will display an Active Help window when the ability to hire retainers is unlocked. Even if the player has disabled Active Help display, a message is also placed into the player's chat log.

Ultimately, it is the new player's choice to skip reading information helpful and pertinent to a new player.

[Packetdancer]

Skipping the cutscene shouldn't make a difference. The game will display an Active Help window when the ability to hire retainers is unlocked. Even if the player has disabled Active Help display, a message is also placed into the player's chat log.

A lot of people get tired of the many, many system messages the game can generate and hide those on their primary chat window tab, so they have a focused view of people actually trying to talk to them.

Moreover, the Active Help system will inundate you with a bunch of pointless entries right away as a new player -- this is how you move, this is how you angle the camera in a different direction, icons over an NPC's head mean you can interact with them, etc. -- and almost anyone who's even remotely familiar with video games will try to find the 'disable this nonsense' button as quickly as they possibly can.

These two factors combine to mean that by the time the Active Help system actually has, y'know, helpful things to offer, many people have disabled it. And a blob of text buried in system messages in the chatlog can definitely be overlooked.

This isn't to say folks don't bear some responsibility for keeping track of what the game's trying to tell them. But while I love this game, I make no secret of the fact that I think it falls short on a number of points with regards to UX/UI; this is one of those points.