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â—€Looking for Members.â–¶
A Cookbook for /search and Auto-Translator invites
This mini-guide aims to teach players how to find party members to form a party with, and does so by examples.
References:
- FFXIclopedia's info on /search
- Auto-Translator & Auto-Translator in Depth
- The EXP Party Index
The Search function
The easiest way to use search for most people is to use the text command, and this mini-guide uses only the text command. The command is /search (abbreviated as /sea), and it returns a list of players according to the criteria the user specifies.
Usually, it's best to try to fill out the party with players actively looking for invites.
/search all 15-25 invite
/sea all 15-25 inv
The above looks for all players within the level range 15-25, who are seeking party.
"all" means look in all regions, and 15-25 denotes the level range.
/search region 12-20 invite
The above looks for all players Lv.12-20 in the current region looking for invites. "region" specifies the current region. Note that each region typically includes multiple zones/area. For example, the Zulkheim region includes the Gusgen Mines, Konschtat Highlands, La theine Plateau, Ordelle's Caves, Selbina, and Valkurm Dunes.
/search Valkurm 16-20 invite
This form is useful for searching in an area one is not currently in. In the above example, the area Valkurm (short for "Valkurm Dunes") is specified explicitly. List of area names can be found here; beware that searching in area the user has never been to will return no result.
/search all 25-35 WHM
Sometimes, players with needed jobs are not actively searching. Be extra polite when approaching those who are not searching, and do not become angry if they refuse. The above looks for all WHMs Lv.25-35, seeking or otherwise. Replace "WHM" with "RDM", "PLD", or whatever else needed; only one job can be specified at a time.
Party Formation
Sending Invites
In FFXI, the convention is to send a /tell for invite and wait for an affirmative reply before attempting to add the user to party. Failure to do so is considered to be a major etiquette breach.
Given that FFXI mix players from all over the world with different languages, it is a good idea to use the Auto-Translator phrases for communication with other players.
Basic invite:
â—€Excuse me...â–¶ â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Do you need it?â–¶
Informative invite:
â—€Excuse me...â–¶ â—€Level Syncâ–¶42 â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Do you need it?â–¶
4/6 â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Ninjaâ–¶ â—€Warriorâ–¶ â—€Dragoonâ–¶ â—€White Mageâ–¶
That says the party currently has 4 members intending to sync to Lv.42, and list the members' jobs. Note that it's also OK to use three letter job abbreviations, e.g. NIN, WAR, DRG, WHM, etc. with foreign players.
Management and Communication
Gather together location:
â—€Gather together.â–¶ â—€Jeunoâ–¶ â—€pleaseâ–¶
Self-explanatory; gathering in Jeuno.
Camp location:
â—€Campâ–¶ â—€Qufim Islandâ–¶ I-8
Use â—€Campâ–¶ so members know the topic is about campsite; give the zone name, and the coordinates and/or close by geographic feature.
Camp Claiming:
It's also a good idea for the leader of an exp or merit party to 'claim' a camp in search comments, to help people forming parties to figure out where not to go. Some merit/high level camp examples:
Need someone to use a specific support job:
â—€Support Jobâ–¶ â—€White Mageâ–¶ â—€Do you have it?â–¶
Let's be very clear here, "subjob" is not an official FFXI term, and using Auto-Translator to spell out â—€subâ–¶ â—€Jobâ–¶ makes no sense whatsoever in Japanese. Please use â—€Support Jobâ–¶ under [Game Terms] instead.
Specifying a Skillchain:
DRG â—€Double Thrustâ–¶ >> THF â—€Viper Biteâ–¶ >> â—€Distortionâ–¶ (â—€Waterâ–¶/â—€Blizzardâ–¶)
Or, just: â—€Double Thrustâ–¶ >> â—€Viper Biteâ–¶ >> â—€Distortionâ–¶
The long form is for working with novice players who may not be very familiar with Weapon Skills, Skillchain and Magic Burst, and so lists everything clearly down to elements to MB with. The short form should sufficient for more experienced parties.
How to say...
What not to say...
Miscellaneous tidbits:
Version History
- 2009.11.26 (Itazura) Camp claiming segment/examples added.
- 2009.02.26 (Itazura) Modified for Level Sync parties.
- 2007.09.20 (Itazura) Replaced FFXIclopedia links with ffxi.wikia.com/wiki.
- 2007.08.28 (Itazura) Added "Party Formation" section, how to specify SC, Fish, Puller/Pulling, "Don't need to translate" sub-section.
- 2007.08.28 (Itazura) Added ◀May▶◀Bee▶ to "What not to say..." Credit: Aksannyi @ Hades.
- 2007.08.27 (Itazura) Creation.
A Cookbook for /search and Auto-Translator invites
This mini-guide aims to teach players how to find party members to form a party with, and does so by examples.
References:
- FFXIclopedia's info on /search
- Auto-Translator & Auto-Translator in Depth
- The EXP Party Index
The Search function
The easiest way to use search for most people is to use the text command, and this mini-guide uses only the text command. The command is /search (abbreviated as /sea), and it returns a list of players according to the criteria the user specifies.
Usually, it's best to try to fill out the party with players actively looking for invites.
/search all 15-25 invite
/sea all 15-25 inv
The above looks for all players within the level range 15-25, who are seeking party.
"all" means look in all regions, and 15-25 denotes the level range.
/search region 12-20 invite
The above looks for all players Lv.12-20 in the current region looking for invites. "region" specifies the current region. Note that each region typically includes multiple zones/area. For example, the Zulkheim region includes the Gusgen Mines, Konschtat Highlands, La theine Plateau, Ordelle's Caves, Selbina, and Valkurm Dunes.
/search Valkurm 16-20 invite
This form is useful for searching in an area one is not currently in. In the above example, the area Valkurm (short for "Valkurm Dunes") is specified explicitly. List of area names can be found here; beware that searching in area the user has never been to will return no result.
/search all 25-35 WHM
Sometimes, players with needed jobs are not actively searching. Be extra polite when approaching those who are not searching, and do not become angry if they refuse. The above looks for all WHMs Lv.25-35, seeking or otherwise. Replace "WHM" with "RDM", "PLD", or whatever else needed; only one job can be specified at a time.
Party Formation
- When using Level Sync, search within 10, 15 levels. Read people's search comments, as some will only want to sync to certain level and above. At Lv.75 and close to it, many seekers will not want Level Sync at all.
- Generally, sync to the lowest party member and the one with the largest TNL.
- Sometimes, a party may be too low for a camp if synchronized to the lowest level member; in that case try to aim for no more than one or two level above the lowest.
- When not using Level Sync--which is rare--levels of the party members close. Generally, try to:
- Lv.10's: Keep the difference at 1 level or less. (e.g. Lv.15-16 OK, Lv.15-17 not so OK.)
- Lv.20's+: Keep the differences at 2 levels or less.
- Lv.40's+: Keep the differences at 3 levels or less.
- Lv.60's+: Keep the differences at 4 levels or less.
- Pay attention to potential members' TNL (how much experience points To Next Level).
- If someone is one level too low, but very close to next level, it may be OK to invite.
- if someone is at the upper range but close to next level, it may be best to pass.
- The core of most parties is: Tank, Healer, Support Role, Damage Dealer. At lower levels, can skip support for additional Healer, but generally a party is going nowhere without those four.
- If /search doesn't turn up all needed roles, it may be better to hold off forming party and instead seek for possible replacement slot openings.
Sending Invites
In FFXI, the convention is to send a /tell for invite and wait for an affirmative reply before attempting to add the user to party. Failure to do so is considered to be a major etiquette breach.
Given that FFXI mix players from all over the world with different languages, it is a good idea to use the Auto-Translator phrases for communication with other players.
Basic invite:
â—€Excuse me...â–¶ â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Do you need it?â–¶
Informative invite:
â—€Excuse me...â–¶ â—€Level Syncâ–¶42 â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Do you need it?â–¶
4/6 â—€Partyâ–¶ â—€Ninjaâ–¶ â—€Warriorâ–¶ â—€Dragoonâ–¶ â—€White Mageâ–¶
That says the party currently has 4 members intending to sync to Lv.42, and list the members' jobs. Note that it's also OK to use three letter job abbreviations, e.g. NIN, WAR, DRG, WHM, etc. with foreign players.
Management and Communication
Gather together location:
â—€Gather together.â–¶ â—€Jeunoâ–¶ â—€pleaseâ–¶
Self-explanatory; gathering in Jeuno.
Camp location:
â—€Campâ–¶ â—€Qufim Islandâ–¶ I-8
Use â—€Campâ–¶ so members know the topic is about campsite; give the zone name, and the coordinates and/or close by geographic feature.
Camp Claiming:
It's also a good idea for the leader of an exp or merit party to 'claim' a camp in search comments, to help people forming parties to figure out where not to go. Some merit/high level camp examples:
Need someone to use a specific support job:
â—€Support Jobâ–¶ â—€White Mageâ–¶ â—€Do you have it?â–¶
Let's be very clear here, "subjob" is not an official FFXI term, and using Auto-Translator to spell out â—€subâ–¶ â—€Jobâ–¶ makes no sense whatsoever in Japanese. Please use â—€Support Jobâ–¶ under [Game Terms] instead.
Specifying a Skillchain:
DRG â—€Double Thrustâ–¶ >> THF â—€Viper Biteâ–¶ >> â—€Distortionâ–¶ (â—€Waterâ–¶/â—€Blizzardâ–¶)
Or, just: â—€Double Thrustâ–¶ >> â—€Viper Biteâ–¶ >> â—€Distortionâ–¶
The long form is for working with novice players who may not be very familiar with Weapon Skills, Skillchain and Magic Burst, and so lists everything clearly down to elements to MB with. The short form should sufficient for more experienced parties.
How to say...
- Tank = â—€Shieldâ–¶ â—€Jobâ–¶
- Refresher/Buffer/Debuffer = â—€Support role jobâ–¶
- Main Healer = â—€Cureâ–¶ â—€Jobâ–¶
- Puller/Pulling = â—€Fishermanâ–¶ / â—€Fishingâ–¶
- "It was nice partying with you" = ... err... just say ◀Party▶ ◀Thank you.▶◀See you again!▶ instead.
What not to say...
- â—€Meatâ–¶ â—€Shieldâ–¶: Just... Don't.
- â—€mainâ–¶ â—€Healing!â–¶: â—€mainâ–¶ is "main-weapon", â—€Healing!â–¶ means "I'm resting (usually for MP)". The combination makes no sense.
- â—€subâ–¶ â—€Jobâ–¶: â—€subâ–¶ is "sub-weapon"; use â—€Support Jobâ–¶ instead.
- â—€Take care.â–¶: It actually means "Be careful of danger (around)" and cannot be used as a proper farewell. Can use it if able to remember the correct meaning, but it's infrequently needed.
- â—€secondâ–¶ â—€Provokeâ–¶: â—€secondâ–¶ is a unit of time, and cannot be used as "the second item/person", etc.
- â—€Mayâ–¶ â—€Beeâ–¶: It may look clever to some, but "5th month stinging insect" is incomprehensible on non-English clients. If unsure about something, use â—€I don't know.â–¶ instead
- â—€Fishâ–¶: This is a noun, as in the collective of salmon, tuna, etc., and not a verb. If need someone to pull, use â—€Fishingâ–¶ â—€Pleaseâ–¶.
Miscellaneous tidbits:
- â—€Front line jobâ–¶ = Melees, RNGs, tanks.
- â—€Support role jobâ–¶ = "Mid line", or BRDs, RDMs, CORs.
- â—€Back line jobâ–¶ = Most mages, such as WHMs, BLMs.
- Use â—€Nice to meet you.â–¶ as the first thing to say to new party/members. Europe is a few hours ahead of US time, and Japan quite a few more. Heck, different parts of USA are on different time zones. So, skip â—€Hello!â–¶, â—€Good morning!â–¶, and â—€Good evening!â–¶.
- Don't need to translate:
- Job abbreviations (THF, NIN, WAR, etc. are fine).
- "OK" (Universally understand to be an affirmative.)
- Monster names (These are always in English alphabets on all clients.)
Version History
- 2009.11.26 (Itazura) Camp claiming segment/examples added.
- 2009.02.26 (Itazura) Modified for Level Sync parties.
- 2007.09.20 (Itazura) Replaced FFXIclopedia links with ffxi.wikia.com/wiki.
- 2007.08.28 (Itazura) Added "Party Formation" section, how to specify SC, Fish, Puller/Pulling, "Don't need to translate" sub-section.
- 2007.08.28 (Itazura) Added ◀May▶◀Bee▶ to "What not to say..." Credit: Aksannyi @ Hades.
- 2007.08.27 (Itazura) Creation.
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