Happy Alternatives

[AnimaAnimus]

maybe.. but I never played FFXI before Idk if it is welcoming new players

After you get it downloaded and install the overhauls its going to start off really slow. But if you just use shout to ask about linkshells (ffxi versions of fc) you should be able to find a group easily. There are a lot of beginner friendly ls out there who are more than happy to help guide you on your journey. If you are NA I would suggest Bahamut server, its the second largest server, but the largest, Asura, is packed to the gills with bots making it hard to do anything without mercs. Once you get used to the slower pace and navigating the menus it becomes a quite enjoyable experience, esp with all the qol impovements made to the game over the years.

And imo the story telling in XI is leaps and bounds better than XIV. They were not so focused on making everything light and happy so while there are moments of levity, there are also a lot of dark themes that get explored and resolved in a lot more interesting ways than the power of friendship trope xiv leans heavily into. The expansions are also all stand alone experiences that you can play at your own pace and in any order, so you are not locked into having to slog through hundreds of hours of msq to get around.

Also you get the best version of blue mage that has ever existed and pet jobs in summoner, beast master and puppetmaster that are true and well done pet jobs. Bards and Corsairs are true and amazing support jobs and mages are so much more interesting than lay lines and fire spells.