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been playing for 2 or so months now, my findings
Ragnardo
Member Posts: 11
Hey All!
So I decided to give FF XI the plunge in mid october (trial cd), knowing that I could not devote a ton of time to online gaming I still decided to try it out even though I read a million times over about how much time you need to put into it etc...
Anyways, all in all I really like the game so far, just made level 11 last night after 30 some odd hours playing (I do allot of just exploring, messing around, talking to everyone, etc.. not playing to fast just enojoying the game).. It seems like it can have allot of potential once I get out of Basstok and maybe find a more populated area (is Juno usally more populated, or other areas?)
I feal like I am at a point where I want to start being social and partying but do not really know how to start? Can anyone recomend a friendly linkshell to a pretty newbish person (I am lvl 11 RDM and can hold my own pretty good as of now, can play RDM like one is suuposed to so far 
. I am on the Sylph server which seems kinda dead allot of the time , I see people running through Bastok and thats about it, the lad around is pretty barren but I still like running around, doing quests and leveling up..
Comments
whitegate is where the people are at most of the time.
People still go to jeuno alot for low levels.
You need higher level (30s?) to reach whitegate.
Bastok is the worse of the 3 cities hence not many people sit there. While alot people still remain in windurst and sandoria.
none
Hmm., yeah, level 30 is a ways off at the rate I am playing , I am kinda unsure of what do do where I am at.. I have mission 1-2 to do, which is going to that swampy place in the sw and collect some fumes samples, I went there like 6 levels ago and got destroyed so I think I am going to try it again tonight..
I am kinda assuming that the "mission" quests kinda lead you into further lands and some what let you know what you should be around and if you cant beat the misson on hand then you need to level up more, do quests or whatever ,, am i right in assuming this?? I wish I would have started in another city , windhusrt is my home town but I chose bastok just because it sounded cool but I sitll have a fun time just runing around exploring the hills and lands and getting more bad-ass in the process , I felt pretty week when I started this game but now at 11 allot of the enimes that were hard are really easy and leveling is allot faster (I still solo) .. Someone told me the dunes is a good place to go soon to party/lvl up so maybe I will head there in a few levels or maybe just run really fast to another city heh.. bet I would die allot doing that though
you basically need to run to Valkum dunes from bastok.
Your partying start there where people gather to level.
missions does lead you to new lands ... like chain of promethia. It offer an original FF story and also give access to many npc and items also airship.
none
This is my suggestion to you. I would continue doing what you are doing and enjoying the game and exploring everything you can just to have fun but go ahead and seek for a party while doing at your current lvl. Eventually someone will invite you to their party once you're in the party hopefully someone there will get you into their linkshell and from their you should have plenty of help and guidance as to what you need to be doing from here on out. The greatest thing about this game I have experienced is the willingness of others to help out people especially when its and easier like the things you will need help with in the near future like obtaining subjob items, and obtaining keys so you can take the airship to kazham and then maybe some help unlocking some new advanced jobs if thats what you are wanting to do. Around that time you should have a pretty good feel for the game and know what you need to do or at least know who to ask. Well I hope you enjoy your experience in vana'diel don't get too discouraged though this game only get better and better the farther you dive into it.
You just didn't play it the way a veteran would played.
When i re-started from nothing, it only took me 3 day to reach 30... of course i was blowing up that xp ring as well.
Just ask and follow a veteran around you level (rank 6+ usually a good indicator) and ask him how would he level in your shoes.
When you start grouping leveling will be alot easier then soloing. at dunes' level you will often find 30 mins is equal to one level. (i usually can do 5 level from 18-23 within 2 hour less).
none
I played ffxi casually for about 2 years and I think that you are going about it a very smart way, very casually and fun. There is no "right" way to play this game, as much as most people would like to think there is. I think it is cool that you are finding your own way in the world and taking your time leveling and what not. I think the best way to start being social and getting in to groups to do stuff is asking people to group and starting up the groups yourself. always use the /who command to search for people in your level range and just see if they want to xp or find others as well.
One suggestion I would make is to not just start throwing out group invites or be to pushy, always see if they are interested in grouping with you first, most find it very rude if you shove invites on them and you didn't even ask if they were interested. Also, there is definitely nothing wrong with asking people where they think you should go to level, but leveling is only part of the game, so don't forget to have fun doing the rest
good luck to you!
gl
Hey all, thanks for the responses... Yeah, I have been playing a little more recently, last night all did was run around BAstok and sell a bunch of stuff in the AC but then I also did a quest which opened up access to any area I want in town once I leave the Mog House (used online help for this quest, which normally I would not do in most games but I feal its kinda mandatory for some things in FF XI, some of the quests are really hard to figure out otherwise, very vauge but with some online help its all good).. I then just started talking to random people around bastok, asking about the new year, had some good conversation and got invitied to a linkshell through it which was nice, there is some VERY nice and friendly people in this game if you take the time to just strike up conversation..
I then went and ran around the mines in the ne , doing mission 1-3 solo now, very easy, just upgraded ALL my equipment (weapons and armor) to meet my level 12 character which wow, definintly made soloing these mines eaiser.. I also got the empress band with my conquest points, thats awesome also...
This game has allot of charm, there is something very unique to it that just makes me have a good time and relax while I play.. I am not a big fan of MMORPGs at all, have tried a few , wow being the longest (6 months) and ended up hating it, the story is such a pile of crap, all it is is a fashion show for you character, boys playing dress up to be better then the next, a what a bunch of a-holes on there, not to fun after awhile, all grind and no story.. FF XI is leading up to a story, I can tell, and I think its going to be grand, even if I never make it there and stop playing up to this point I really enjoy it even though I am a casual gamer, but that may change as i get pulled in more!
Well, i am not going to convince you or convert you into anything.
but your type of gaming just doesn't last much in mmorpg, at least from my perspective and many people i met ingame and in real life.
I got many people told me "i enjoy just log on once in awhile and do something" of course, these people end up quitting the game before it even started uphill.
The reason being is
1. you will see people around you going up ahead leaving you behind.
2. You will began to rely on these people used to be your level or rather start compare what you did wrong.
3. You lack motivation to keep going further.
I do understand games is game but in many cases mmorpg raise use "competition" as their ideal enjoyment provider and what attract people to play it (PvP is an example).
Meanwhile alot people take the game serious because it consume times and times is very limited. Elite games doesn't waste time because its limited. While i personally want to get the story going at the pace of everyone as in every mmorpg once the time come everyone move on.
You will always seem a diminishing of people to party if you lag, even in WoW ... expansion came and no one does Raid instances of the level 60 anymore. While its difficult even find a party for any dungeon at low level. Even through FFXI use change system, there will still be that problem.
Hence being casual might be your style, but like many people i met, you will quit before you reach 50 or even began any sort of what the game mainly provide.
I personnally played this game for 2 year with almost 4 level 75 character, i still haven't touch COP nor TOAU while ZM remain in-complete and only done 1-2 BCNM....(nor assaults, limbus, ejhahar and salvage... and didn't even touch any wotg content yet) but i did complete dynamis.
none
Hey , to each their own, no problems there but those problems you list dont really seem to matter to me, and if they did , well I guess I will end up not playing at some point but what a drag to just get into a game and think about it in the way that some people seem to : for example, oh I have to play fast to level up or I will be left in the dirt, oh I have to play all the time because time is important etc etc..
These are just pre-concivied notions for people who just play games most of the time and thats it.... Yes, time IS precious, thats why I dont have allot of it to play video games for the time being, but when I do I like hanging out in FF XI doing whatever... I also know people who I have met that play this game and after 2 years have done ALL of the story elements (for the most part) and thats why they played the game, they were more hardcore then me but they really just wanted to go and do the story lines with thier friends when they felt like it, they leveled up according to what they had to do for the story etc.. I duno, I think its just different strokes for different folks type deal.. there is no right or wrong way to play this game and yeah If I do end up not playing the game in the long run its not like i "lost" or anything , I still had a good time in Vana'diel and saw some cool stuff, I play the game one day at a time, If I tried to take in the whole scope of this game from lvl 1 newbie and tried to set goals like "must have all jobs, lvl 50+, must do this and that" it would just stress me out and what fun would that be??
Thanks for the input though but I dont really see eye to eye with you
A good friend of mine played this game with focus on story - quests and missions. Compared to the rest of us, his play-style was much more "casual".
When we were among the first North American subscribers to reach level 75, he was happy with being at a lower level as long as he can get his quests and missions completed.
While the rest of us were focused on establishing a dominant end-game linkshell, he established his Cooking business and furnished his Mog House.
When the rest of us took an absence to play WoW, he decided to stick with the healthy community.
While many of us never completed the FFXI expansion missions, he obtained all the rank titles. While many of us viewed the FFXI storyline through video and fan sites, he went through the cutscenes first-hand.
Nowadays, a couple of the rest of us are semi-active at best; he is still very active in-game. He went on to experience end-game FFXI obtaining everything we had and more - at a pace he enjoys most.
In retrospect, I think he had gotten the most out of FFXI among all of us. FFXI may be much more enjoyable if you ignore the progress of others, go with whatever pulls you in, and let the game show you what's next!
Looking back at my ffxi experience I wish i had the forsight your friend had while he was playing. Though I have experienced much of the game there are many things I over looked at lower lvls like crafting early on and just doing some of the silly missions that seem like a waste of time now.
Ok, sorry but this sits wrong with me, obviously you've played the game the way you want to, 4 level 75's and you couldn't bring yourself to do all those missions?
I won't ask why, I don't care, what bothers me is that you are telling someone mmos aren't for a certain type of person while you yourself seem to enjoy leveling more then anything. Puzzling....
Guess what MMORPG's have quite a bit of content so many different types of people can enjoy them. And FFXI is jam packed with it, it'll be very hard to do all of it which is why you can pick. I've met casual gamers who do enjoy 'grindy' games, the fact of the matter is it's not really the game itself that determines if you'll stick with it or not but your perception of it and how much fun you're taking from it. Granted you have to enjoy grinding to love FFXI, whether it's by yourself or in a group it amounts to the same repetition, only one grants you levels much faster with less death penalties.
I myself don't have a level 75 but last I checked I think I had 200-300 quests done, not a whole lot of missions because I don't group often, but I don't mind I'm an explorer and enjoy going through all the corners of a zone. I've found places that my level 75's compatriots didn't even know about
So play as you will and don't let other people pidgeon hole you in one place.
edit: Sorry if this sounds aggressive but I get all edgy when I see people telling others how to play or not play ect..
(,,,)=^__^=(,,,)
Words from an old hard-core achiever may seem imposing to a new casual explorer, but may be good pointers to other achievers nonetheless!
I have to say this is a smart and interesting way to play. I pleyed FFXI for a very short time on my PC when it first came out - I didn't get very far and to be honest, I didn't put much time into or even make the effort. I do remember enjoying exploring and I thought the graphics were great - I still think they are rather good, just my opinion. Quick question - you mention your friend setup a cooking business. I always loved the idea of "virtual businesses" but I haven't ever really experienced it - curious as to how that would work in FFXI - is it just crafting items and then selling them via an auction house or is it more of actually owning a "house/shop" and hiring an NPC to sell for you whether you are online or offline? Is that even something that exists - I sort of remember that SWG was supposed to or does. Thanks.
Steve
Unfortunately, there are no personalized "standing" houses/shops in FFXI, but players can set up a bazaar to sell items from character inventory. A "bag" symbol will appear next to your name and players can examine you to purchase the items/prices you're vending. My friend's business covered the normal auction house sales, mule bazaars, and a list of usual customers!