New player questions.

[Lucky7]

I've been a WoW player for the last 3+ years, but after a long time of raiding and pvp I want to try something new. I've been reading a lot about FFXI and got me a copy of the Vanadiel 2007 collection. Before I create a character I was wondering if I can get some assistance with the following questions:

Starting city: From the different guides I understand that each town has its own quests & missions. I was wondering if the quests and missions of a particular city were more fun/interesting than others. Also, is any city better than the others (better layout, easier to move around, more activity in town, better location in the world map, etc).

Server: I've been reading the server forums in this site and allakhazam's site to get an idea on the population. Is there any other site I should visit that has very active Server forums? Besides the economy stuff that I can get from ffxiah I want to know more about the people in those servers.

Xpacs: I understand that the expacs have been out for some time now. I was wondering if it is still possible to get parties to do the missions related with those xpacs or do I need to get used to the idea that I won't be finishing any quest/misions for RoZ or CoP? I wonder because after the first WoW expac there was almost no reason to do anything in the "old" part of the world besides leveling as quick as possible to get to the xpac area.

Oh, one more I almost forgot. I keep reading about RDM AF. It looks like it is a series of quests for different gear. What AF stands for? I think it is "artifact", but it isn't in any of the acronyms/slang guides i've read so far.

Thanks.

[Sevv]

Re: New player questions.

We have a ffxio based ls on kujata. We are more then welcome to take in new players.

Starting city really doesn't matter to be honest, chose what city sounds like you would enjoy the most. If they all are fairly even, I would suggest going with the city that will give you your ring.

You can still do all the missions a bit harder to get people, but with a good group of friends they are no trouble at all.

AF stands for artifact armor.

[manna]

Re: New player questions.

Hey there and welcome!

Starting city: All the starter cities have their own charm and fun quests. As already mentioned, do a bit of checking around and see which one would pique your interest the most.

Server: I can't really suggest one server over another to be honest. The FFXI AH site does give an idea but keep in mind it only reflects the AH's that are linked up to Jeuno.

Xpacs: You can still get parties for the various expansion missions. Listen to shouts, etc.

[Evion]

Re: New player questions.

I would suggest NOT starting in Bastok and NOT going on server Asura.
1. Basty is just plain ugly.
2. Areas around Basty are ugly.
3. People from Basty don't hang out in Basty too much... Which may be why we are number one in conquest on Asura. Second thought, as conquest is concerned, you may want to join Basty.
4. Asura sucks! I just switched to Hades, and it's SOO much better...

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: New player questions.

Every starter city has a different atmosphere. What you can do is to create a new character, select a city, and view the introduction cut scenes. Then, delete the character, and select another city. Then, repeat.

Then, just pick whichever city give you the best vibe. ^_^

Doing missions in pick-up groups may be more difficult now. That's not necessarily due to the lack of people, but there are so many different activities available, people may have other interests. Not that you can do all the missions right away; leveling in FFXI is a lot harder than WoW, and for many missions, you want to have a high level job first.

The best bet is to join a decent Linkshell ("guild"), so you'd have friends to do missions and other activities with.

As to which World ("server") is best, they aren't really all that different from one another. If you have friends who already play FFXI, just join theirs. Or, you can look at: http://www.ffxiah.com/data.php That shows number of characters using each World's Auction House system, which is roughly a count of server population.

Honestly, who you play with determines your experience far more than which World you pick. It may take some time before you find a right group of people to hang out with in game, though; most people do not stay with their first Linkshell. Or second. Or third.

* * *

The user bases has invented many abbreviations (e.g. AF, LB) and slangs ("subjob", "AF2") over the years, and it's easy for new comers to get lost amongst all the terminologies. FFXI Dictionary of Terms and Slang should help you out with that.

Oh, and the best introduction to FFXI is here: FFXI New Player Guide

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks to all for the comments. Creating multiple characters is a great idea. I'll definitely do that.

Is good to know that cities are not that different. In WoW some cities layout are a pain for new players in low levels without a mount to ride around. Its also good to know that quests/missions are fun in all the different cities. I was concerned that I will miss something really good by picking a random city.

One follow up question.... I've found these and the Alla forums really informative. Are there any other forums (not databases like FFXIclopedia) that I should definitely know about/visit?

thanks!

[Feba]

Re: New player questions.

not really. It's the databases that are important. I know plenty of people who get along fine and hardly ever read forums.

[Aksannyi]

Re: New player questions.

I would suggest NOT starting in Bastok and NOT going on server Asura.
1. Basty is just plain ugly.
2. Areas around Basty are ugly.
3. People from Basty don't hang out in Basty too much... Which may be why we are number one in conquest on Asura. Second thought, as conquest is concerned, you may want to join Basty.
4. Asura sucks! I just switched to Hades, and it's SOO much better...

OT to the thread itself, but bug me any time you feel like it. XD

As far as starting city, they all have their merits. Windurst is kind of a pain because it's the farthest away from where most people group up starting at level 10, and until you become skilled at avoiding aggro (or you find some nice people to escort you) it might be difficult to get there, though you can avoid that by soloing a bit longer.

[Ameroth]

Re: New player questions.

I would suggest NOT starting in Bastok and NOT going on server Asura.
1. Basty is just plain ugly.
2. Areas around Basty are ugly.
3. People from Basty don't hang out in Basty too much... Which may be why we are number one in conquest on Asura. Second thought, as conquest is concerned, you may want to join Basty.
4. Asura sucks! I just switched to Hades, and it's SOO much better...

You're ugly. That's what.

-------------------------


If you don't have a particular city in mind, I'd recommend starting in the home city of whatever race you choose to play.

Bastok: Hume and Galka
San d'Oria: Elvaan
Windurst: Taru Taru and Mithra.

Starting in your race's "home town" rewards you with a special ring that may or may not be helpful for your race and job combination.

Otherwise, pick a city that seems most interesting to you.

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks again. I think thats it for now. Next is to do some more reading about jobs and jump in game. I'm still waiting for a pair of HDDs to rebuild the machine before installing FF, but I hope to be in game this weekend.

As to servers... I'll likely join Kujata. I don't have any friends currently playing the game. They are either still playing WoW or going crazy with Halo 3 or other random games while waiting for Smash Bros.

[Kiyoko77]

Re: New player questions.

IMO since your very new to FFXI, which is the most unique MMO out there! There are none that come anywhere close to the style this plays as! WoW and FFXI are totally opposite.

I'd suggest you start in San'doria.{oh yummy, bagpipes!} That city is usually always bustling with activity of new and old players cause its the closest and easiest of access to all the low lvl zones.

East & West Ronfaure ~ Just outside the gates of San'doria are IMO the easier starter zones of all the cities.

Fort Ghelsba ~ West of San'doria, this is where you'll first be introduced to the Orcs in large amounts and learn how ruthless they can be. Also a great area for low levels to learn advanced solo & small group play.


La Theine Plateau is just S of San'doria and the main access route to:

Valkurm Dunes ~ Which you'll spend a better part of your life at between lvls 10-20 trying/leveling several jobs including advanced jobs after you obtain lvl 30 and unlock them. {You will travel alot between San'doria and the dunes regardless of what city you choose though!}

Jugner Forest ~ East exit of LTP and one of the routes to Jeuno once you earn lvl 20+ {very close to San'doria}


Last thing if you have not been informed yet, don't expect to rush into this and be able to solo like you could in WoW! Yes you can solo to a point, and will from lvl 1-10, it will become increasingly more difficult after 10 though, and damn near impossible after lvl 20! {Depends heavily on the job and how much XP you want!}

Once you get a high lvl job and good source of gil, leveling solo will become alot easier when you start another job since you'll be able to afford better gear.

Just keep in mind that FFXI is technically a group-forced MMO if you want the best XP.

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks for the pointers Kiyoko! I read your email while checking the ffxi-atlas site and it makes complete sense to me. I think that does it for the city.

Now is a matter of getting the PC up and running with the new hardware and I'll be in game.

Thanks for all the help!

[Kiyoko77]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks for all the help!

NP, your welcome! FFXI can be quite overwhelming to new players these days. Also don't worry too much about doing quests as a priority because this is not WoW. You do-not get xp for about 98% of all quests out there.

You will want to do the quests, but its not a priority to start with. Run around all the zones of San'doria and learn the city and locations of NPC's and shops. It'll be very helpful, and you will find a few quests you can start.

Quests are used for raising your fame lvl across the world, and yeah you'll end up doing most if not all of them in each city, cause several have some really good rewards. Fame is used to determine if you can acquire the next tier of quests.


Lastly is aggro for mobs. This is where FFXI really shines since no other MMO has ever done aggro this way! Not all enemies aggro the same way like in WoW by getting too close to them. Short list of what to look for:

Orcs ~ aggro by sight {literally seeing you, so if their eyes don't see you they won't aggro}
Goblins ~ {Same as Orcs}
Yagudo ~ Bird men, also aggro via sight!
Quadav ~ Giant turtles, aggro by sound of your footsteps!


Those are your basic noob Beastmen, which you'll be fighting a ton of them early on. Later in the game which I'll let you discover and encounter are some beastmen that aggro by both sound and sight and are mixed together to make it harder to bypass them.

....and much further along you'll encounter enemies that aggro by Magic & Low HP and even some that have true-sight & sound where they can see through your spells.



I encourage you to ask questions about enemies when roaming in groups and keep your knowledge of what to expect fresh. Sadly there are too many veteran players that get really pissed at new ppl that don't know their aggro, and yeah its upsetting when they get themselves killed or even gets the entire party{PT} wiped.

Good Luck