Some stupid questions from a new player...

[Kantele]

Hi everyone, I've never posted here before and just started playing the game few days ago as well!!!
And... well, I am so confused with the whole thing. I've actually read now the manual (which I usually never do..) I have also surfer several web pages to find info, and I have to say, I have never had so much trouble to understand something Maybe I should've studied maths in school after all... Oh and it doesn't help that I have never really played online game such as this...
So yes, I would be extremely thankful if someone could help me a bit with my questions.

1) How do I mine?? I bought me a pickaxe and .... then what?
2) I've been running around for 2 days (real world days) fighting monsters and trying get some experience and MONEY and I've made all 500GIL so far, woohoo! Is there anywhere I can get armor and weapons etc. that doesn't cost as much it seems to cost in the shops and the auction houses... ?
3) Is there anywhere where I can learn the basic synthesis recepies?
4) Where do I get flowerpots and furniture to my house, or am I supposed to know at this point of the game?
5) What is the whole point of the game and how can it be called Final Fantasy??

All in all, I find the game highly addictive but it is quite difficult to comprehend... I won't even go to some other things in the game yet because they seem to be complete double dutch to me at the moment, I would just like to get started with some basics, since all I seem to do at the moment is keep beating up the tunnel worms and huge hornets

[Murphie]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

1. You use the pickaxe on the Mining Point. You can find those in various mines around the world. At your level your best bet is probably Zeruhn Mines in Bastok.

2. You can buy things much cheaper from the NPCs. Save items that you get and sell them on the Auction House, and then buy other things you need from NPCs. You should be able to gear yourself pretty well for a while without having to resort to the high AH prices.

3. Crafting recipies are found online for the most part. There isn't an ingame resource for them, with the exception of one or two that you may learn from the guild NPCs.

4. You can buy furnishings from various NPCs and on the AH. You don't really need them right now, so whether you'd like to get them is really up to you. Gardening is a pretty easy thing to pick up however, so that's not a bad way to make some early gil.

5. This is an MMO. The "point" if there is one is to level up, explore the world, and interact with others. The reason it's a Final Fantasy is because it shares many of the same elements common to earlier FF games.

This forum is a great resource for your questions. Look around. Most of them have been asked and answered before. Also, check out the FFXI Wiki, and Somepage.com for items, NPC locations, and quests.

[Mhurron]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

Don't worry so much about understanding it all, since you won't. If you can find at least some enjoyment in learning about the world of Vana'diel then you should be able to have a lot of fun with the game. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from the ones you make and you'll be a better player for it.

What is the whole point of the game and how can it be called Final Fantasy

Well how it is a Final Fantasy will become apperent when you start getting to around the Rank 4 missions or start CoP. As far as the point, the point is to exist in a FF world. Think of all those NPC's you pass doing the storyline of a more traditional FF game. Well, this time you're them.

[Balfree]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

I am truly sorry, i had a huge post with all the answers, and had some good insight to mmorpgs aswell and what they are like, but i accidentally pressed ctrl+w and firefox closed on me... le sigh... i do not have the heart to write it all again, previous posts here give you all your answers, so read em :p

[Aeni]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

1) How do I mine?? I bought me a pickaxe and .... then what?

Contrary to what you're probably thinking, no, you may not mine just "anywhere." There are only very few areas in this game that is slated for mining. There are certain points where you can mine and these will randomly pop up (time intervals)

For example, you can target a point if it is ready to be mined (when it pops up) if you see the "???" as the name of object you are targeting. These will appear on the ground or sides of a wall.

Off the top of my head, these are the only areas you can mine (Keep in mind you can also "excavate" with the same pickaxe, but that it pulls up completely different items)

Palborough Mines
Zeruhn Mines
Gusgen Mines
Movapolos (Both zones)
Ifrit's Cauldron

I might be missing a zone from this list, but that's all the places I've ever been to mining...

2) I've been running around for 2 days (real world days) fighting monsters and trying get some experience and MONEY and I've made all 500GIL so far, woohoo! Is there anywhere I can get armor and weapons etc. that doesn't cost as much it seems to cost in the shops and the auction houses... ?

You basically sell what you get as drops. Make sure to have a signet on at all times (Get it from the guard at the gate) in order to get crystals to drop.

Also, it is imperative for lowbies to do many quests that they are able to. These are an excellent source for gils, gear and items which you can turn to the AH to sell. So please, explore the game and not just focus on only one aspect of it.

3) Is there anywhere where I can learn the basic synthesis recepies?

You can ask the NPCs at a particular guild repeatedly and cycle through recipes appropriate to your level. However, if you want to view the complete list, you'll have to visit a website for that.

4) Where do I get flowerpots and furniture to my house, or am I supposed to know at this point of the game?

You can either buy them from the AH, certain NPCs (Depends on which city you are in) or craft them. You need to research these for yourselves (Which is the point of exploration)

5) What is the whole point of the game and how can it be called Final Fantasy??

There are some references to Final Fantasy. You can find Cid in Bastok Metalworks. There's chocobos and airships. However, FFXI is an entirely unique world and experience, so you will not find anything here that you can draw direct parallels with the standalone console games.

The storywise is still FF-esque if you actually do the missions, quests and what have you.

[Raydeus]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

About question #5 I don't think you'll find a more accurate explanation than this:

As far as the point, the point is to exist in a FF world. Think of all those NPC's you pass doing the storyline of a more traditional FF game. Well, this time you're them.

This is a Final Fantasy world from the NPC's point of view, while the main characters are somewhere else doing 9999 damage to mobs and having more 9999 HP and similar MP. We (little adventurers) gotta group together to take down monsters that would make Squall, Cid, Yuna, etc. die from laughter.

An Adventurer's (read NPC) life is hard indeed... but I heard a rumor about some legendary sword called Illumina... So I just run around the world looking for it.

[Kantele]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

Thanks for all your replies!!!
I really actually like this game... however it's very different from other FF games I've played.
This morning I came to work with huge bags under my eyes because I didn't want to log out I joined my very first party and kicked some monster butt.. yay! So thanks again for your help - you'll probably see me asking silly questions some more a bit later...

One thing about mining though... I went to the Zeruhn mines and tried to find a spot to mine, but how do you know where they are... do they look different? I tried to ask players that were there but no one wanted to reply me

[Balfree]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

Heres all you need to find the spots:

http://www.ffxi-atlas.com/

Choose a zone, for example Zeruhn Mines.

Once there, check the tabs on the right section of the page, theres 3, "General" "Monsters" "Mining", click "Mining"

Upon doing that, notice the map on the left, the dots are mining locations, and the list next to the map is the possible yields you can mine, zinc ores and pebbles being the most common, and darksteel ores being the less common.

How mining spots work is very simple, those dots tell you a possible mining location, it doesnt mean there is a spot there, this is because among all of the possible spots only some will be active at the same time, im not sure of the ammount but im gonna guess its 4~6 spots, you have to look around and try to find a spot, when you finish mining a spot, it will disappear and pop somewhere on those dots, it may even pop again on same spot, its completely random.

The spots are marked as "???" targets.

Happy mining :O

[Kantele]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

Heres all you need to find the spots:

http://www.ffxi-atlas.com/

Woah.. I never realised the world is so huge Thanks for that!

[Feenicks]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

I always thought mining spots were labelled "Mining Point" as opposed to "???" ...

[Mhurron]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

I always thought mining spots were labelled "Mining Point" as opposed to "???" ...

They are.

[Kitalrez]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

Um, 2 things that might help you out. If you go to the items menu and look over to the upper right of the screen, you'll notice you can sort them. Meaning all those items with a 1 next to them can be stacked with each other. This is extremely helpful for selling stuff on the AH. Also, notice that as you mine your pickaxes unstack and end up at the bottom of your inventory with the ore. You'll want to continually stort your inventory to restack them so you don't clog yourself with single picks.

The other thing you might want to do is try to avoid mining a point someone else is already at. This is a good way to make people angry at you. Especially later on in higher level mines. If someone else mines your point, feel free to get angry at them, though. First one to swing usually claims it.

As far as earning newbie money, have you checked out the prices of crystal stacks on your server yet? Getting that signet at the gate so crystals will drop can really help you out early on. Fire crystals used to be 3k a stack, and most goblin weavers/thugs will drop these for ya, as well as orcs and birds. Dark crystals from funguars also sell pretty well, as players use them to make leather or yagudo drinks. Beehive chips, silk, and mushrooms are also highly valuable in stacks. All the newbie zones have at least two of these items. While single crystals sell higher than stacks will, they also sell much slower than a stack. If a crafter drops anchor at the AH, they're buying in bulk. Single crystals get picked up for that one synth that broke.

[Aeni]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

I always thought mining spots were labelled "Mining Point" as opposed to "???" ...

My bad. I haven't played FFXI in nearly a month and haven't mined in nearly 5 months (I gave up trying to mine up the gold ores I needed to advance in GS - odds are better at the casinos in Jeuno)

Either or, you need to spam your tab key unless you're camping a point. Which doesn't make any sense since in order for the point to appear in front of you, someone else needs to mine the other points that have appeared elsewhere. Reason why I don't understand why players camp a point unless they are working together (aka RMT)

[raidenn]

Re: Some stupid questions from a new player...

This will initially bring you money.
Get signet from the guard, kill some stuff outside and stack crystals (in 12s) , sell them in the auction house.

Kill bees for beechips, stack them and sell them in the auction house. It should be under Materials > Alchemy > Beechips (12).

That should take care of your gil problem.
For crafting, there are forums here that will show you the way