Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

[stefanvalric]

To start it off, some backstory. I started playing FFXI just after its NA release on PC and enjoyed it more than anything I'd played before.

I started out on Midgarsormr which was a disaster of a server for me compared to Odin which I moved to following some in game friends.

After switching to Odin I only grew to love the game more, since I had better luck with the community there.

Sadly due to a combination of issues I lost my account information and was unable after months of attempts to get SE to retrieve my information. I'm NOT asking for help getting my account back, keep reading.

I gave up and followed my friends IRL on to other MMO's. Since then I've never had as much fun with any MMO's as I find teamwork and playing with other humans to be the most fun experiences. In fact with some skill we had managed to make very unconventional party formats extremely successful in FFXI. I absolutely loved that.

Now, I don't remember what CC was used for the game, nor can I manage to find my info.

I find myself going back and watching videos, listening to the soundtrack and overall remembering FFXI more fondly than any game. Sure it had its problems, but it was still great.

Finally, onto my questions:
1. If I were to start again, would I have trouble getting back onto Odin?(Are the transfer codes still in effect, ect)
2. Would I have trouble being a newb again starting out without a sub-job?
3. Are there still enough players lower level to find groups? It was hard before, it has to be harder now.
4. What server is recommended for starting again? Will there ever be any new servers again?(I doubt it, but I'd rather start fresh on a fresh server)
5. Are all these recent jobs and changes helping or hurting the game? Some seem kind of silly when just reading about them.
6. Does the game show signs of shutting down any time soon? From what I can see it doesn't, but a player perspective is better than one from outside.

Any other information that you might find helpful I'll gladly take. I'm going to continue to read around the forums here and elsewhere. Thanks so much for any info you can offer up.

[EDIT Aug 22, 2008; 1:48 PM EST]
I should also note that if anyone is looking for a static EST(or any time zone depending on the hours) group, let me know. It'll only increase my motivation to return =) I'll play pretty much any class.

[Armando]

Re: Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

1. You can choose your server when starting a new character now.
2. Things haven't gotten any harder for starting anew. Technically they've gotten easier, since you likely left before ToAU and the changes to Signet, there's more gear, and there's more information on the game now.
3. I can't speak for 10-20 because I prefer to solo past the Dunes. 20-40, it hasn't gotten much harder as far as I can tell.
4. Whichever you want. As far as I know there aren't any servers known for having x or y characteristic (newb friendly, EU friendly, hispanic friendly, whatever.)
5. A ton of changes have happened, it would depend on which ones you're thinking of.
6. No.

[Phanex]

Re: Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

1) Nope, you can pick and choose your worlds now.
2) Not so much, we still have a lot of "newbs" so getting a prty around 10 is easy.
3) See #2
4) Any, I'd go back to Odin in case your friends decide to come back to play ff in the future.
5) They about the same as the other jobs, some are better than others, but all are still fun to play.
6) Not really, they have added a lot of new content and updates, that being said they might take a breather before another massive expansion, but they keep adding on to the game. So it's not really slowing down as much from what I've seen.

PS: Welcome back to the fold.

[Ellipses]

Re: Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

Tsk tsk with the cross-posting.

1) Nah, you're fine.
2) Not really. There are fewer people leveling low-level jobs, but that also means less competition for party slots, and it's a little easier to solo those first 18 levels now (and then get help for the subjob quest if need be).
3) Eh, so-so. The comparison depends on what it was like when you left. I've been fine so far leveling subjobs.
4) I personally don't think it makes much difference. You could try and narrow it down and find servers that really do meet certain criteria (higher population, specific-purpose LSes you like, an odd concentration of Germans), but even finding that stuff out ahead of time doesn't guarantee much of a good match. Every server is a special snowflake.
5) Define "hurting the game."
6) No.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

2) As far as having trouble starting over, you should have a fairly easy time since you are already familiar with the game mechanics. I find that more new players have a hard time because they try and fight the game mechanics and it makes it harder for them to level. "Oh look that cons Tough so I should be able to take it with barely any equips, an onion sword, and no food!!" (And before people start going "Oh I just leveled up my sam and fought Toughs no problem!" remember that this is a new player with absolutely no combat skills whatsoever. It's a LOT easier when you have capped evasion, weapon, parry, etc.)

3)I recently leveled 5 jobs to 40 and getting parties in the lower levels was few and far between. I solo'd a lot or waited until hubby wasn't on his computer and the dual boxed and power leveled myself.

5) If you are looking at participating in endgame, not a lot of the newer jobs are very viable for endgame unfortunately. If you don't care about endgame then have a blast because they are certainly fun to play!

[stefanvalric]

Re: Looking to return to FFXI, many questions.

Tsk tsk with the cross-posting.

I apologize for that. I had missed this board section before and posted here as it is a better place for the post. I would have deleted my own post but I saw no way to do that. I attempted to remove the content and label it in the hope that a mod would remove it quickly. Forgive me.


Almost certainly going to pick it up again. Just need to check into how much time I'll have to budget over the next couple months.

Much thanks to all of you for the assistance. I'll definitely be heading back to Odin.