Playing with a friend for the first time?

[Blink4Blink]

I'm kind of new to FFXIV. I have a friend who wants to try the game out for the first time. He has put a lot of time into other MMOs but it will be his first time playing FF.

How exactly do we play together? I already have a main Job close to level 60 and he is starting new? I'm kind of a bit lost. In other MMOs we would just share quests.

If I start a new Class and do NewGame+ he will get much more XP than me and soon be much higher level. But the only way for my friend to unlock dungeons and other important things would be to unlock them with MSQ.

How do we play together while showing him all the fun stuff to do in game?

[Crafoutis]

1) You can put in extra playtime to maintain your level with your friend on your NG+ job as a means of keeping up with his MSQ xp, along with you wearing XP boost jewelry.

2) If you don't want to do that, your friend may be willing to run dungeons a few extra times with you per-tier to round out your XP, they will get proportionately less than you will for doing the same dungeon, since they're higher level.

3) You could start a new character outright

[Frizze]

Well first things first, make sure that they know what Data Center and Server you play on. When they create their character, being on the same server will help a ton with playing together. From there, a conversation would be best. Do they want to do the story side-by-side with you? Do they want to be as independent as possible? Are you going to play at about the same rate, or will one of you spend much more time in game? And as an MMO vet are they going to come in with an open mind, or with a ton of pre-conceptions of how things should be?

So from there you can examine your options. If they want you as close as possible then either an alt or a NG+ run would be ideal. In either of these cases youll be able to see and interact with all the quest NPCs again, see the cutscenes again, and replay any solo duties again. If they're fine on their own and likely only need help for the big moments then let them do their thing and just join for the sync'd dungeon and trial runs. You can make either of these easier by playing a class that compliments whatever they pick. Being close to level 60 means you could easily unlock one of the later expansion jobs that start at 30/50/60 if you need to swap roles(and thus save some time leveling up).

Beyond that, just be ready to show off side things like the Gold Saucer or the Wolves Den. Theres plenty of fun to be found, but not everyone likes the same things so variety can be key.

[Jeeqbit]

The truth is that the MSQ is not designed to be done with other players. The developers consider this at the start and decided against it - and whatever their reasoning, I don't agree with it. SWTOR is much better for it, for example, because your entire playthrough of the game can be done with friends from the start, rather than this process beginning at max level.

You can help them with dungeons and trials, although all required dungeons can be done with NPCs now as well. Most of the time, people do MSQ alone and get their social interaction via FC chat or the novice network.

You could do New Game+ with them on a max level job and not care about the exp. Stats get weaker the higher your level, so it won't be exactly the same scaling, but you could remove gear so you're not overpowered:
Level 50 = Item Level 50-130 gear
Level 60 = Item Level 170-270 gear

So by removing your right side gear, helmet, feet, you could potentially drag it down to 50 or 170 depending on the level. Item Level and Level tend to be in sync below level 50, but most people are well below the expected item level before level 50. Healers do the least damage.

The other option of course is making a new character.