Thinking about playing: some questions for vets :)

[Kinsella]

Hey, i'm a newcomer to FFXI. I haven't even bought it yet, but i've seen a friend play it a while back, but i never got around to trying it. But now i'm in the position where it's getting more tempting and tempting.

Basically i'm coming from WoW, and i'm trying to decide between Lineage 2 and FFXI now. WoW is just boring me and i'm losing all the interest i had in it, really fast actually. I want something new and fresh to me, and FFXI is probably one of the only MMORPG's i've really never played, and i hear many good things about it.

Now some questions:

1) How is the story in FFXI? I love a good storyline in MMORPGS, despite how most people tend to think MMORPGS are just grind fests, i actually like to pay attention to the story somewhat, at least understand it lol. Is it evolving? Are there any quests/missions in the game that actually reward you? (Lineage 2 quests are pointless and unrewarding, for some relation).

2) How is the community? I love friendly communities. My friend played on Bahamut when he played FFXI, and everyone seemed really nice, so i will probably be joining that server. But how is the FFXI community as a whole? One reason i'm leaning more towards FFXI over Lineage 2, is that i've played Lineage 2, and i can say that 80% of the Lineage 2 community are either elitist pvp @$$hats, or 13 angsty kids playing Dark Elves. I know their are gil farmers (like every other game), but basically i'm just looking for a friendly environment.

3) I think i will want to play a sword/shield wielding class......so if i was going to do that, yet i still wanted to be desired highly by groups and find groups easily, which class/subclass would i go, or what are some options that still meet that criteria?

4) I will be probably joining Bahamut, but i would really love a guild (linkshell, is what you call them?), to take me under their wings and befriend me, just simply so i can have a group of friendly people to talk to while i learn the ropes, and maybe even they can teach me a few things along the way and i can eventually catch up and group with you all So basically, without sounding like a beggar, can any experienced LS on Bahamut offer to take me under their wings and help me out alittle if i have a question along my way of leveling? If so, this will really help convince me to pick up FFXI, b/c i enjoy games 200% more when i have a good group of people to always chat with and play with.



---if you made it this far, thank you much for reading all this, and if you have any input, it would be muchly appreciated. I'm just a MMORPG fiene who needs a new drug, and hoping FFXI will fit just right, as i'm actually getting more excited about picking it up, the more i type.

[Susurrus]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

Hey, i'm a newcomer to FFXI. I haven't even bought it yet, but i've seen a friend play it a while back, but i never got around to trying it. But now i'm in the position where it's getting more tempting and tempting.

Basically i'm coming from WoW, and i'm trying to decide between Lineage 2 and FFXI now. WoW is just boring me and i'm losing all the interest i had in it, really fast actually. I want something new and fresh to me, and FFXI is probably one of the only MMORPG's i've really never played, and i hear many good things about it.

Now some questions:

1) How is the story in FFXI? I love a good storyline in MMORPGS, despite how most people tend to think MMORPGS are just grind fests, i actually like to pay attention to the story somewhat, at least understand it lol. Is it evolving? Are there any quests/missions in the game that actually reward you? (Lineage 2 quests are pointless and unrewarding, for some relation).

2) How is the community? I love friendly communities. My friend played on Bahamut when he played FFXI, and everyone seemed really nice, so i will probably be joining that server. But how is the FFXI community as a whole? One reason i'm leaning more towards FFXI over Lineage 2, is that i've played Lineage 2, and i can say that 80% of the Lineage 2 community are either elitist pvp @$$hats, or 13 angsty kids playing Dark Elves. I know their are gil farmers (like every other game), but basically i'm just looking for a friendly environment.

3) I think i will want to play a sword/shield wielding class......so if i was going to do that, yet i still wanted to be desired highly by groups and find groups easily, which class/subclass would i go, or what are some options that still meet that criteria?

4) I will be probably joining Bahamut, but i would really love a guild (linkshell, is what you call them?), to take me under their wings and befriend me, just simply so i can have a group of friendly people to talk to while i learn the ropes, and maybe even they can teach me a few things along the way and i can eventually catch up and group with you all So basically, without sounding like a beggar, can any experienced LS on Bahamut offer to take me under their wings and help me out alittle if i have a question along my way of leveling? If so, this will really help convince me to pick up FFXI, b/c i enjoy games 200% more when i have a good group of people to always chat with and play with.



---if you made it this far, thank you much for reading all this, and if you have any input, it would be muchly appreciated. I'm just a MMORPG fiene who needs a new drug, and hoping FFXI will fit just right, as i'm actually getting more excited about picking it up, the more i type.

Story is as good as it gets for an MMORPG (assuming you do missions, that's where the story is at, though there is backstory in quests).

The community is friendly with some exceptions. There will always be jerks in games.

PLD/WAR would be your best bet for sword/shield job. Should use Great Axe or Axe while raising your WAR, though.

Can't help you with #4, I'm on Ragnarok.

[SlizenDize]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

I think i will want to play a sword/shield wielding class......so if i was going to do that, yet i still wanted to be desired highly by groups and find groups easily, which class/subclass would i go, or what are some options that still meet that criteria?

PLD/WAR (Paladin with sub job warrior, usually called just Paladin or PLD) sure is good if you want go get PTs in a decent paste and it's truly that knight in shiny armor thing with sword and shield and all. But they tend to go for defence and less damage. If you rather want damage then maybe Dark knight is your thing they are basicly the oposite of Paladins, however they tend to use 2 handed weapons like great swords and scyths. Dark Knights doesnt get to many party invites until later levels though.

You could always Choose a Warrior they usually Dual Wield two Axes for ok damage. Warriors tend to get so-so invites during the whole game.

A monk is also a nice alternative since they do a lot of damage which most players really like, especially in later levels however they fight with hand-to-hand weapons which IMO can be pretty cool at times. High HP low DEF. Good chance for invite but not as much as a Paladin.

I'm not gonna go through all of the melee classes but it's so variated and I really want you to be sure what class you want to play as.

Ok one more class, the Samurai. I could recommend a Samurai simply because they can use Weapon Skills so much ore often which is pretty much the funniest thing you do as a melee lol. Can't say these are very sought for though. Even so they can be very good with the right party members.

The only melee class I can think of except Paladin which uses a shield would have to be Beastmaster but it's really not the kind of Group Melee fighting class. More a Solo class.

Hope I helped some and not only confused you lol. I'm a mage lover myself but you kinda catch on most things as you always see melees playing and you know what people think about this and that.

[vazel]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

my copy is in the mail. one question tho i'll squeeze into this thread. does the game have cut-scenes during the gameplay like the other final fantasy games?

[Balfree]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

there are plot cutscenes, but not FMV if thats what youre looking for

[soru]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

except in the chains of promathia start :D FMV there

[Balfree]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

well uh.. there are some FMVs sure, but not really in the game itself :x i think! atleast i havent seen any other than the 'intros'

[DakAttack]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

I always thought FFXI was one of the only games with an actual storyline, and I've played WoW and L2 and the like. Not only does it have one storyline, it has five different sets of missions for you to complete. It's not easy to complete them at all, so you'll be spending a lot of time leveling just to complete them, but it's really worth it.

If you want a Sword and Shield you'll be a paladin, but the only job they can sub is Warrior, for reasons you'll learn when using the search feature to research job combinations. ^^

[Kafeen]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

Welcome,

1) How is the story in FFXI? I love a good storyline in MMORPGS, despite how most people tend to think MMORPGS are just grind fests, i actually like to pay attention to the story somewhat, at least understand it lol. Is it evolving? Are there any quests/missions in the game that actually reward you? (Lineage 2 quests are pointless and unrewarding, for some relation).

I've never played another MMORPG with a story even close to the depth of FFXI. To start with there's the missions you get assigned by the guards of your home city. These will vary depending on your nation but give you an insight into the history of Vana'diel. As you complete these missions your rewarded with a range of gil (money), items and an increased rank in your nation, this allows you to buy better items from guards aswell as showing both yourself and others how far you've progressed. At rank 4 you'll be asked to do some missions for Jeuno, at this point the missions for each nation combine for a while and they're the same for everyone until you hit rank 6 at which point the nations seperate again. Also upon hitting Rank 6 you can gain access to the missions from the first expansion pack, Rise of the Zilart. This gives you another story line to follow in addition to your nation's. Missions from the 2nd expansion pack Chains of Promethia can be accessed at any level by entering a dungeon near Jeuno.

2) How is the community? I love friendly communities. My friend played on Bahamut when he played FFXI, and everyone seemed really nice, so i will probably be joining that server. But how is the FFXI community as a whole? One reason i'm leaning more towards FFXI over Lineage 2, is that i've played Lineage 2, and i can say that 80% of the Lineage 2 community are either elitist pvp @$$hats, or 13 angsty kids playing Dark Elves. I know their are gil farmers (like every other game), but basically i'm just looking for a friendly environment.

The majority of the community are very nice. As with anything there's always a few who spoil it for the others but on the whole they're pretty friendly.

3) I think i will want to play a sword/shield wielding class......so if i was going to do that, yet i still wanted to be desired highly by groups and find groups easily, which class/subclass would i go, or what are some options that still meet that criteria?

As others have suggested the PLD/WAR combo matches that the best. Paladin's are an advanced job you can't plaay until you hit level 30. Take a 3rd job to level 18 first ( either MNK or THF) and use this to do the quest to unlock your ability to use a sub job. Then switch to WAR and take it to either 30 if you feeling impacient or 37 if you can put up with the wait. Then unlock the PLD job and sub your WAR for it.

You'll spend all your time tanking so I hope you don't mind taking a bit of a beating.

Enjoy your time here.

[Kinsella]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

thanks for all the thoughtful replies

all sounds good to me, and i always like playing the 'knight in shining' armor type class anyways, so paladin is sounding good to me

i think i'll be picking it up after my 2 classes today

[Cade]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

Missions from the 2nd expansion pack, Chains of Promethia, can be accessed at any level by entering a dungeon near Jeuno.

Actually, I think you need to be at least rank 3 an level 30+ to start them.

Thats what I remember anyway when it came out....

[JeanRC]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

play a red mage ;p
it hold a sword and a shield too lol
and i am sure red mage get more party easily then pld ;p
and u dont even have to do advance job quest for being a red mage.
sub job for red mage usually are black mage or white mage in normal level party.
but when u are max level which is 75 for now u should get dark knight sub and summon sub at least for more useful HNM hunt.
And a very good red mage can solo a lot more then a paladin ;p
But be warn, once u are lv 41 red mage are super busy class to play lol

[Kinsella]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

play a red mage ;p
it hold a sword and a shield too lol
and i am sure red mage get more party easily then pld ;p
and u dont even have to do advance job quest for being a red mage.
sub job for red mage usually are black mage or white mage in normal level party.
but when u are max level which is 75 for now u should get dark knight sub and summon sub at least for more useful HNM hunt.
And a very good red mage can solo a lot more then a paladin ;p
But be warn, once u are lv 41 red mage are super busy class to play lol

do paladins have any solobility? I was under the impression there really was no way to solo in this game anyways.

I would think about going red mage, but i like melee type classes better i think, you know like big heavy armor and huge sword or axe or something?

[Cade]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

You solo those first 10 or 12 levels, thats it.

Nobody solo's for XP except Beastmasters, an even that can be pretty rough.

JeanRC is referring to killing NMs an farming mobs for drops.

[silentsteel]

Re: Thinking about playing: some questions for vets

Regarding the server LS thing (seing as how everything else was answered so well ) If you would like to come to the Midgardsormr server. . . I'm in a great Linkshell atm & they would be happy to welcome you in