[Takira]

I know that FFXl is a very big game with over several servers, each with over 100-200 players in them too, or maybe even more, who knows!
But I'm sure that there are areas of the game I will get to visit which I haven't seen yet, if I just put more time into levelling, and worrying less about other things.

FFXI has about 35-50 servers with 3-5k people on at any given time.
As far as leveling as a whm you shouldn't be lacking for invites while in the game.

to give you abit about having a life, I work full time, have 2 kids and a house to tend and I found time in the last year and a half to get my whm to 61. I would be higher but had some computer issues and finally got them resolved but couldn't party due to the computer problems. I don't usually party during the week but weekends I do, during the week I work on quests and what not.

Any craft you chose, you will have to spend gil to move it along. I spent a good deal of gil getting my cooking skills up so I speak from experience.

Just stop over analyzing the game and go have fun!

[Elrundir]

"No deposit, no return." It's an unfortunate, but universal, law. Just like everyone here has said, be prepared to spend money when levelling a craft. There simply aren't two ways about it - at least not if you want to level with any semblance of speed. You can of course make a profit crafting all the way to level 100 in any craft, if you farm/mine/vendor all of your materials. But considering that, even at the low levels, it may take several stacks of ingredients to go up a single level (and this gets worse when you get higher), you can see how time consuming that will be. Most players just bite the bullet and buy their materials wherever they can, essentially "power-levelling" their craft. Then you can make money using whatever profitable synths you find along the way (they don't just exist at level 100!) to fund your next marathon.

If you want a cheap craft, take Cooking up. I've found that it's considerably less expensive than other crafts, though the rewards are consequently less per synth (though you generally make batches of stuff for selling with Cooking anyway).

Keep at it. Even by now you've probably learned that FFXI is not a game for the impatient, but if you persevere, the rewards will be worth it.