[Manji]

I'm sure this is one of those threads that you get quite a lot. I'm basically looking for starting out advice... The thing is, I've looked through these forums for some time, I've read the FFXI wiki and I've also had about half an hour's experience of the game a while ago. Reading things has actually made the game seem even more confusing, and now I have all these terms and phrases going around my head with no meaning attached (like a "gimp weapon"... )

Well, all I really want to know is what I should be aware of when starting out. What are the main things I should be careful of doing and what sort of things should I aim for? Or, in other words, if you were to start again now what would you do differently?

If it's relevant, I'm almost certainly going to be a Hume Thief. I've heard all this talk about sub-classes and don't really get it - it seems that a lot of thieves choose Ninja as their sub-class, but this is generally looked down upon?

Please, feel free to just redirect me to other relevant threads - but since this game seems to go through regular revisions and changes, it would be nice to get an up-to-date run down of, I guess, things to bear in mind, things to aim for early on and things to avoid. Also, apart from obvious things - like abusive language and kill stealing - what sorts of behaviour are seen as undesirable in FFXI?

[Jei]

Welcome to the forum and FFXI.

For starting out, check out this thread.

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/gen...must-read.html

[Daos]

Don't worry about what people frown upon or not when it comes to classes, gear, or sub-classes. Just play to have fun. You'll learn the ins and outs as you go. It's all part of your training, my young padawan.

If there was one thing I could do over, it would be to learn how to utilize the auction house right from the start. I was broke for the first ten levels of the game because I sold everything I found to NPCs. You can't make any gil that way.

[Legal Fish]

I'm not sure what you are looking for... I would suggest you do not favor one type of content to another (like equipment is nice, but you'll have an empty experience if you can't live with doing things with little reward). Be prepared to have some frustrating days. And, don't read any threads that spoil the storyline a great deal, especially if it happens to be sticked.


I guess I should work on finishing the guide Jei posted...

[Meredy]

Get Signet from the gate guard on your way out of town, always. The Gate guard is the one with initials by his name (W.W. in Windurst, T.K. or R.K. in San d'oria, and I.M. in Bastok). This will make crystals drop from enemies, which you can sell for money.

Go to your item menu and hit "Sort > Auto". Do this often. This stacks things so you can carry multiples of the same item in one inventory slot. Items can stack to 12 or 99, depending on what they are.

Never, NEVER drop beastmen seals. They stack to 99, and a VERY useful later in the game.

Sell EVERYTHING on the Auction House. Everything. Even stupid things like insect wings are worth decent money. Do not sell to an NPC. Don't be intimidated by not knowing how the Auction House works; it's very simple and you don't have to talk to anyone or anything like that. It's just putting items up for a going price, and people buying them.

Look at equipment guides for your job, and try to keep up with gear. If you sell everything on the Auction House, money for gear shouldn't be a problem.

You might want to look at a guide about how a party generally works, and a guide about how to do macros.

I think that's about it for new player advice.

Have fun!

EDIT: Oh, and in terms of behavior...

If you wouldn't say it in real life, don't say it in game.

If someone has a weapon aimed at a mob, don't pull out a faster weapon and take it, that's rude.

Don't /shout unless you want the whole zone to hear it. Your voice carries quite a ways.

Don't have /say or /shout in any commonly used macros, not so much rude as annoying.

[Mhurron]

Originally Posted by Manji

I'm sure this is one of those threads that you get quite a lot. I'm basically looking for starting out advice...

Read the manual, play the game, come back with specific questions. Answers to questions will make more sense after you can put them in some sort of context.

Only really useful advice that can be given is be sociable with your fellow players.

[Manji]

Thanks for all your helpful replies.

Even though I wasn't asking about anything specific, I just wanted to get a feel for things before playing the game. My friends and I have had a selection of "culture shocks" when playing certain games online (mainly on the 360 incidentally).

I've played Gears of War online recently, and have seen many petty game hosts kick other players for not using the headset! In the pre-game lobby they say "[name] are you there?" and if they don't get a reply they say "you'd best reply to me or else!" and then kick them. The fact is that not only is the headset not standard issue, there's also a glitch that essentially mutes players if they join a match late. Even if they were problem free, it's up to them if they want to talk to others while playing a videogame. You get similar things in Phantasy Star Universe if you only use the keyboard (USB or software keyboard) rather than inanely chat about American TV and the like...

I must say, though, that they people I've seen on this forum so far have put my mind at ease considerably about my future FFXI experiences.

[Ameroth]

Once you begin to play you'll meet helpful people that will guide you one your way. Finding a nice friendly linkshell is one of the best things you can do. Until then however, don't be afriad to ask other people in-game. Especially mentors. Read the manual about mentors and how to find them once you have the game. They are (almost) always willing to answer questions you may have.

And my other advice is to just have fun. Enjoy your time and Vana'diel!

[Dragonly]

Mentors might not always be helpful, some people use that symbol for fun and aren't helpful.

One thing I advise, is NEVER EVER EVER beg for gil it's annoying you might see higher level people in the starting town you think they might have loads of gil, they probably do but do not beg.

One think that happens to me when leveling is that I get asked questions, be poliet about it, I rather see a tell(which is the command /tell Name message) then I party chat look at rank numbers in a party Rank 10's normally know what doing just ask nicely.

If someone give you a hard time about something don't get mad over it, it's just a game heck you'll look like the bigger man instead of shouting "ZOMG NOOOB!!!!11!" you get the idea.

Over all have fun. Come back to this thread and post what server your on.

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Manji

I must say, though, that they people I've seen on this forum so far have put my mind at ease considerably about my future FFXI experiences.

We're glad you like the atmosphere here. We try pretty hard to keep things friendly and approachable, and we don't much care for people that are disruptive, so our member base is actually significantly more mature than the general playing populace.

Even so, I think you'll find that overall, FFXI boasts better social environments than most other online games as long as you make an effort to get to know people. There's some really great people playing this game, and in my experience, such players like to cluster together so once you find someone like that, stick around, make friends with them, and network to find the people you most want to be around when you log in.


Icemage

[Caspian]

The people on Xbox Live almost make me believe in evolution. I met more retards capable of playing video games on there during the few months I played Halo 2, than I've met in the entire 3 years I've spent playing this game.
Not to say there aren't some absolute idiots that play FFXI, but they are much fewer and farther between.

[Kyero Fox]

Originally Posted by Daos

Don't worry about what people frown upon or not when it comes to classes, gear, or sub-classes. Just play to have fun. You'll learn the ins and outs as you go. It's all part of your training, my young padawan.

If there was one thing I could do over, it would be to learn how to utilize the auction house right from the start. I was broke for the first ten levels of the game because I sold everything I found to NPCs. You can't make any gil that way.

if you wonna play to have fun play WoW .... lol jk its fu n but the fun stops after a while .. the only bad thing about FFXI is the waiting for partys

[Sabaron]

I don't know how much fun mindlessly slaughtering players who are significantly weaker than you is...but I find FFXI is quite rich in content and the artwork (despite an older, ill-optimized graphics engine) sends the others loping home with their tails between their legs. There are currently 6 very well-developed story lines (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, Zilart, Promathia, Aht Urghan) and so many side quests (some that are quite long) that the story content alone can keep you occupied for a very long time. If you're into the grind and gather, there are numerous things to hunt especially at 75th level and tasks that will take a year or better to accomplish (Relic Weapons). Just to note... Last I knew, the most common Relic Weapon was Excalibur (generally given to Paladins, but will now be deprecated in favor of Hauteclaire), followed by Kikoku (NIN), Aegis (also for PLD), and Gjallarhorn (BRD). Relic Armor sets, Abjuration Armor, and the new Salvage Armors will probably take several months to a year to acquire and the stunning new area, the Ruins of Alzadaal, are quite the place for an adventure and slaughter.

[Icemage]

By the by, current best estimates in HNMLS-land indicate that it will take at least 8 months to a year before anyone has a completed Salvage armor.


Icemage

[Caspian]

Is that assuming you designate one person to get every drop they need for a complete set, or everyone who wants it can lot it?