Hello!

[Saryn]

Hi there! I just recently picked up the game after a long period of consideration and, even though I am still very low level, the game really seems fun.

Being new, I do have a couple questions about a few things so that when I settle on a character later tonight, I know what server and city-state to choose.

Firstly, does city-state matter? I really like Limsa Lominsa and Gridania, but have read a few things regarding their Grand Caravans. Does the gear you get from the Grand Caravans mean enough to base a choice on them? I plan on playing to unlock Dragoon first, then maybe Bard or White Mage.

Secondly, levequests confuse the ever loving crap out of me. I have read that there is a cap to how many Guildleves you can do in a day, but have not seen anything on regular levequests. Do Battleleves, Fieldleves, etc. count towards your daily limit of Guildleves? Are they the same thing?

Lastly, I have been bouncing around on Masamune and Balmung. Does either have a larger playerbase of english speakers? I have read that Balmung has a great number of them, but i was wondering if it was the same for Masamune. Once I get settled, I would love to find a nice Linkshell to settle into and play with.

Thanks for any help you can give this green newbie, and I hope to see some of you in game!

[Titans]

You can gain 99 leves. If you have that many and time, you can do them all in one day. You can hold a total of 16 leves. After which you can go back and pick from the remaining leves of the 99 you had to choice. Grand companies or for the most part similar. There are some differences but not much from what I can see.
Unfortunately I play on a different server. It's a mix community, but you can find English speakers. Excalibur is my server

[REDace0]

Hey! Welcome to FFXIV!

The only effect of starting nation is the main scenario quests from levels 1 to 15. The main scenario quest-lines merge at the level 20 quest. You can join any Grand Company you want, e.g. I started in Gridania, but joined Limsa's Maelstrom. Company gear does vary a little, but there's good stuff for every class there.

Leves are just reusable quests, and they come in two main varieties: local and regional. In your Journal (Quest Log) you can have up to 8 of each active at once. Local leves are crafting leves where NPCs provide you with mats and reward you with gil and mats for your work. They're a great way to level up crafting classes. Regional leves include several varieties. Battlecraft leves require you to kill mobs in the field for gil and items, similar to simple quests in other MMOs. Fieldcraft leves require you to gather materials in the field for gil and items. Faction leves require the use of faction credits earned through completion of other regional leves to accept and vary greatly in content. They include boss fights and non-combat scenarios. There are also Grand Company leves, which are solo battlecraft leves that are accepted from GC officer NPCs in particular locations and reward GC seals instead of gil, items, or faction credits. You earn 4 leve allowances per 12 hours I believe, stackable up to 99.

Masamune has plenty of English speakers. One of my linkshells, Pandemonium, is fairly large and active, with a good split of North American and European players. Our website is pandemoniumls.enjin.com.

Hope to see you in-game!

[Urthdigger]

You can hold a total of 16 leves.

This isn't QUITE right. You can hold 8 regional leves (battlecraft, fieldcraft, or faction leves) at one time, PLUS 8 local leves (Crafting leves). Company leves also cut into your stock of leves, but these are started immediately as soon as you pick them up (They're also accepted AT the camp. Each region has one level 30 camp with company leves, and one level 40 camp with company leves, so don't worry about them until then).

[Saryn]

Thank you guys for the help! This did clear up a number of questions I had. I decided to go with Gridania to start out. Figured I would have time to decide on a Grand Company later on. REDace0, I am going to try and get into contact with you in game when I can. If you happen to see this post before I do, my character name is Saryn Catrae. Thanks again for the help everyone!