A few general guidelines and tips - to the new and to the old players as well.

[BreathlessTao]

So, I posted some things that I think would be useful for all players over here. I'm gonna try to fit it in here too. (...1000 characters limit, er...)

With quite a lot of playtime on my hands, I thought I’d write up some points that I noticed have been asked over and over and over and over again - or just been causing problems on a daily basis (if not more often). I think a lot of time and frustration could be spared if people kept these in mind, so without further ado, here’s my list in no particular order…

• Read the texts. Seriously. You can save yourself (and others) a lot of questions by actually listening to what the NPCs tell you, whether it’s a side quest or class or storyline quest or just an intermittent stop at some random location. Same goes for the Active Help popups which also contain explanations a lot of players keep asking for.
• Use your assets. The Journal, the Map, the Duty List: all invaluable when you’re trying to find where to go or what to do. Clicking on a quest title in the Duty List will show you that quest’s Journal entry; clicking on the description of a quest in the Duty List will show you the target area of that quest. Check the NPC Vendors for stuff to buy, wherever you happen to be; if you can’t find something, use the Market Boards in the city. Search won’t yield you results if the searched word is not the first one of any item name (try using exact names), but the buttons are a great way to finding what you need.
• If you’re a new player, be patient. Retainers, dungeons, Chocobo (both as mount and the battle training), Materia, Grand Company membership, even dyeing (if you’re in the habit of picking up side-quests) - all will come to you as you progress with the story.
• If you’re a veteran player, be patient. Answer questions you know the answers to, whenever you have time (in a nice manner, obviously). The fact that someone chose a class does not mean they’re experts with it, especially in a dungeon. If you see someone not doing well, don’t tell them off - explaining what and how they should do, advising them on tactics and skill usage will be of much more help for them and will create a better game experience for everyone. The point that never should not be forgotten (indeed, by either side) is: not everyone has been playing such games for ages. Don’t be superior and condescending if you’re the veteran; don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re a newbie.
• Be polite and respect others. If you see a fellow player in a tight spot, being attacked by a dozen enemies at once - help them out (no XP or loot is being stolen this way so no need to fret). If you see someone lying dead (or see them asking to be revived in chat) - go, help them (if you’re not too far away). If you’ve been resurrected or helped out fighting a large mob - take the time to type in a “ty” at the very least. This is a multiplayer game, we’re supposed to work together. Also: don’t start flame wars about other languages. Many, if not all, of the NA/EU servers (even some of the JP ones, I’d imagine) are home to people from different countries. The game itself is available in multiple languages. No need to be hostile about it in any way.
• Don’t make it a habit to complain about the Duty Finder or the random parties. A common misconception is that the DF should enable players to find parties quickly - this has never been the case. It’s there to enable players to do other things while waiting for a party. And sure, anyone can find themselves waiting for too long or in a group that’s particularly awful every once in a while. But all bad experiences every time? That’s just not true.
• Linkshells are basically “naked” chat channels: only social-oriented, more for keeping contact with closer friends, or maybe for special purposes within a Free Company. Anyone can create their own linkshells in any of the three cities and are able to invite whomever they wish - or belong to any LS if they are invited (up to a max of 8). A Linkshell can have a max of 128 members.
• Free Companies are like the extended, gaming-oriented versions of linkshells, also called guilds: with content to be added in future expansions, players are able to work together for common achievements, collect points to spend on Actions that give extras while playing (reduced gear wear, reduced teleport rates, extra battle XP, etc), collect money to buy a FC house and work on items for said house, take use of a Company Chest to exchange items… One can only belong to one FC at a time and creating your own is much harder than creating a linkshell; requires you to be level 25, requires you to pay 15000 gil and requires three other players to join you for starters. FCs are looking for members pretty much all the time - keep an eye on that chat window or look around on the Lodestone.
• Report Real Money Traders. Sadly, Square Enix is a bit inconsistent with this: open up your System (or Pause) Menu and go to Support Desk. On the first tab, that’s shown by default, there’s a little entry specifically about RMTs at the bottom - click on it, read and act accordingly. Alternatively, you can go to the Contact Us tab and use the Report Cheating button. In either case, copy-paste the message itself (if you can), whether it was a shout or a tell. (The cursor works just like everywhere else in Windows, it can select text in the chat window and the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V commands work in-game as well.) Additionally, you can blacklist players in your Social Lists window.

…and I think that’s it for now. I’d like to think it can be of help to new players (and maybe for some older ones too), because I’d really like if the FFXIV community was an actual nice and helpful one, instead of a frustrating and hostile environment. If you’ve read, and mainly if you’ve reblogged, all this: thank you. But it’d make me feel the best if you just adhered to these things, which are, I think, really quite basic and simple.

[Hawklaser]

If I had a way to ask for this to be stickied I would. Lots of generic useful things already, and I am sure more will come.

[BreathlessTao]

Shameless self-bump.