Do you miss the social side of the game?

[Phorest]

I've just started levelling my BST (10 right now), and I started wondering yesterday...do you guys ever miss the social side of the game? It seems to me that you really form friendships with people while partying with them, and seeing the same people as you level up. Thats the way it worked for my WHM, I came up with the same people around Windurst, then we all decided to move to Qufim/Jeuno, then Kazham...and I kept seeing all these people I knew. This led to linkshell invites, friend lists, etc.

So with a BST, don't you miss out on all of that? Since BSTs mainly solo their way up...is there any social interaction whatsoever? I hafta think that getting to the upper levels (60s, 70s) you will want to have a network of friends that you can go questing with, or ask for help on things, etc.

Are BSTs alone forever?

[Rawdog]

"Are BSTs alone forever?"

Pretty much.

The good thing is you should have quite a large friends list (like me) after leveling WHM to 30, so you can always ask any of them for help. After realizing this, I decided to level DRG to 60 first before BST, so that I dont miss out on the whole party cooperation thing, which is pretty much what the game is about. When I was leveling BST, I had to ask myself...what am I playing an MMORPG for if I am just going to solo forever? Of course, you can form PTs for quests/missions and such, but other than that, BSTs are alone.

[Lucky Strike]

Actually with the abundance of BST on my server it's easy to make a 2 BST PT for great exp.

[StarRealms]

I keep my LS pearl on all the time... very talkative with them. I also help out with quite a few things so I've never felt like a "loner" at all.

[FinalHeaven]

I still party o_O

I do about 70% solo and 30% party, maybe abit more if I get lonely....., Melee wise a bst can do more for a party then a thief can, I normally keep my dmg up to around 80% of the dmg the war is doing. plus we can always charm the mob if things go bad.

[Keftenk]

man, everywhere i go i meet new people, they think its the coolest thing when i charm some nasty argo monster on them and save their asses. stuff like that create bonds, but lv 30-35 for bst seems to be the worst lving of lvs for that job >< ugh...that was horrible, i honestly do admit. I pted from 32-34, man did i miss pting. whenever i get bst to a respectable lv im gonna lv mnk up or something. but not waiting for pts and what not is always a plus ^^

[Antwan_3000]

i haven't been a BST long but i can alrdy tell that we can pretty much do both....

not only can we solo, but we can also bring a significant amount of damage dealing potential to a PT (with an "even match" charmed pet)...

the only downside is that (before you get the "away" ablility) you'll probably be getting less xp in a party than you'd be getting if you were going solo. if you can handle getting 30% less xp that everyone else in your party, then i say "go for it"....

and doing alittle partying will definitely keep things interesting and keep the new friends flowing in....

just keep in mind that when the party disbands, you'll still have the option of soloing...


its the "best of both worlds" after you get the "away" ability tho..

[Keftenk]

yes....release....is godly :D jsut the other ady i got 2400xp in 30 minutes...it...was.....nutz.

[Phorest]

Thats true....I guess once we get release ability having a pet could really work in a party.

It just seems like FFXI is built around partying, and BST goes against that. Another thing I'm worried about is getting to high levels and not having enough of a friend network to help with AF quests, BCNMs, etc.

I guess all I can do is play one and see how it works out

[Bigbird]

There is always your trusty old Linkshell mates, that will probably want you for the BCNM battles. Although after dying 2ce in one yesterday, i dont think i wanna do it unless with 6 bsts.

[Keftenk]

Crawlers Nest

Ok, so I soloed there today, xp can be very fast in some areas of the nest, but usually is very very irritating to have to run from stupid people training 15 crawlers to zone and what not. ugh, then it takes forever for the crawlers to get back to their spawn points, but anyways. i soloed there for about 2 hours today, only really xping for a hour or so and was able to get 2400xp, just a heads up to all you new bst going to the CN. There are probably better places for us since that place is so camped ><

[Lily]

The good thing about partying is that it's generally safer, consistent (in some ways) and fun (also in some ways - I meant for the renkei/social aspects). So far, soloing as a BST can be harder work than partying. You have to be really on the ball if you're dealing with toughs, etc, plus having hostile aggroable linkable mobs in the area.

Once I hit 20, I went to Qufim and have partied since then. Now 28, and will stay in Kazham till 30-31ish. After that I will start soloing properly. I'm not the best fighter compared to those drk/war or war/mnk etc. etc., so I don't often get as many invites at Kazham as I did at Qufim, so I've been starting my own parties, and everyone is fine. I've not once had someone say, "Hey, you're a bst, sod off and go solo." :p

Besides, when we get aggroed or get a link, I can charm the 2nd one and save us problems. Provided it's not a goblin. -_-

Oh and partying is also a fairly good way of lvling up your combat skills like scythe and axe.

[Crug]

i dont really miss pting i have my linkshell. i do not have to deal with all the stuff that normaly comes with pt'ing like people randomly leaving. (well i do but thats a whole other thread lol)

[tracert]

Originally posted by Lucky Strike
Actually with the abundance of BST on my server it's easy to make a 2 BST PT for great exp.

really? i've only been in 2 bst pt's... one was with you in the dunes... the second was from 35-38 or so... i've soloed pretty much all the way to 40 now...

[Lily]

I'm starting to miss it. I've done some duoing with another bst around my lvl and the xp goes by super fast, and it also touches on the party side of things, so that's good. But I do miss the old 6 person group where you're all working with each other. Guess I'll lvl another job for that. ;p