[Zanse]

Hello, I'm an FFXI newbie. Just started playing a few days ago, having a blast. The biggest problem for me right now is that I had to go into the game without knowing anyone, because I quit WoW/WAR/AOC and all of my friends are still on those games. I tried searching the main Linkshell site, but it's hard to find a Linkshell for newbies or just for some kind of help on my server (Odin).

I have talked to lots of people and tried to make some friends in game, but it's not that easy.. I have now leveled whm/blm both up to 11 and tried a few dunes PTs, but they didn't go so well.. so I'm thinking of trying to start up a group with some other newbies or at least get into a helpful LS..

Anyways, can someone tell me where I should be looking to find a newbie-friendly Linkshell on my server? I also tried a few polite shouts in game in Bastok but no one has answered. I even tried looking for Mentors but every search comes up with no results.

One last question, I haven't found the answer.. is there a way to transfer items between your characters? I wanted to switch my hume to a Mithra but I don't want to give up the gil and gear I've managed to get already..

Thanks guys, great forums here ^_^;

[Ellipses]

To find a linkshell, you've been basically going about it the best way you can. Browse other forum sites (Allakhazam, Killing Ifrit, etc.) and see if you can find some that way. Ask the people in the parties you get into.

And don't give up on partying with experienced players. The Dunes are notoriously awful. But there are still helpful players out there, and explaining that you're new to this game and asking for help is the best way to find them. (Note: help/advice, not gil/items.) In what way did your parties not go well?

There are delivery NPCs by every Auction House that can send up to eight items and/or one stack of gil from one character to another. That only helps if you already have two characters, though. You can't delete your Hume, make a Mithra in the same slot, and still hold onto the items, if that's what you're asking.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Zanse

I even tried looking for Mentors but every search comes up with no results.

Mentors aren't all that great unless they really know what they are doing. Speaking from experience I didn't have my mentor thingy on but I turned it on after somebody asked me for help on what mobs to fight. I probably should've told him about the /help feature so that way I could take over fighting if the inevibitle happened. Of course while he was soloing a Orc showed up near some rabbits, I of course thought he was gonna fight the rabbits since he was ahead of me. Instead he took a swing at the orc thinking he could fight it which caught me offguard and by the time I could tell him to type /help it was too late. Too bad I didn't have any mage jobs leveled, otherwise I could've healed him a bit. I havent put on my Mentor icon since that day, and if I ever do it again that'll be the first thing I tell the person I'm helping lol.

[Clever Ninja]

Browsing all forums is a good idea. Alla, KI, even the forums on FFXIclopedia for advertising. I know my social LS has a post on there and somewhere else for people interested in joining, we had a new player join about 2 weeks ago. Also occasionally should see shouts for a social LS, even in the starter cities.

And keep on partying. I didn't get my first linkshell until like, level 20 WAR/MNK when I started cause I partied with someone who was pretty cool at the time. He helped me get to Jeuno on his SAM(which is prolly why I still think it's an awesome melee job) and broke out his Adventuring Fellow along the way and I got a linkpearl as I zoned in.

[Zanse]

Thanks all for the quick replies, some very good advice.. I'll be continuing my search and partying. ^_^

Originally Posted by Ellipses

In what way did your parties not go well?

Well my first one was a real disaster.. we had a few warriors who weren't provoking and me and a black mage died twice, so I had to leave that one. The second one, I was on my Lv.11 Whm again with a very quiet group.. our party leader was doing very good pulls around the starting place, and I was keeping everyone alive with Cure II's for a good while. I went about 3/4 to level, and then a warrior pulls too many and we had to zone.. one died and got real mad at me. Then we re-zoned and it happened again, and I died after trying to save someone, then I was kicked out.. I didn't really understand, because that whole time before those linked pulls I had been keeping everyone alive, staying back and focusing only on heals.. a mithra even thanked me for it and said "great job". I just left after that and went back to leveling my black mage.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Zanse

Thanks all for the quick replies, some very good advice.. I'll be continuing my search and partying. ^_^



Well my first one was a real disaster.. we had a few warriors who weren't provoking and me and a black mage died twice, so I had to leave that one. The second one, I was on my Lv.11 Whm again with a very quiet group.. our party leader was doing very good pulls around the starting place, and I was keeping everyone alive with Cure II's for a good while. I went about 3/4 to level, and then a warrior pulls too many and we had to zone.. one died and got real mad at me. Then we re-zoned and it happened again, and I died after trying to save someone, then I was kicked out.. I didn't really understand, because that whole time before those linked pulls I had been keeping everyone alive, staying back and focusing only on heals.. a mithra even thanked me for it and said "great job". I just left after that and went back to leveling my black mage.

That is known to happen in the dunes where you have more than one warrior and they both fail at voking. I had a party once and the 2 WARs didn't understand the concept of provoke, and they didn't understand the concept of backup voke either. Either they weren't provoking at all or they were both provoking at the same time or provoking too quick. Double Provoke at the same time imo causes a Enmity fail on the mob and as soon as anyone scores a crit or casts a nuke or a Cure II it causes the mob to chase them like a bandit. Its kinda annoying to have to tell people how to do their job but sometimes there are things that need to be said, especially if you are the leader. That's another reason why I am dreading going back to the dunes to level THF.

If the Warrior pulled too many mobs he is either supposed to zone them, zone 1, or die to protect the party, or all of the above. I don't understand why you were kicked either unless you went Cure II crazy and the Warriors couldn't hold hate lol.

[Ellipses]

Yeah, that's about the way it goes. I've never been a fan of partying in the Dunes quite that early myself. It can definitely work, and I have had a few really good parties at those levels, but in my experience that's the exception.

All you can really do is keep the communication going as much as you can and do your best. Don't take it personally if people are impatient, just watch out for those people next time.

One tiny bit of advice out of that, though: Avoid Cure II if you can. You should be able to keep people alive with Cure I for the most part, and you'll draw hate less. What I've found, leveling WHM, is that I cast my second strongest Cure more often than anything else, with the most powerful only thrown in now and then.