[Groznyj]

Hello all!

Let me start with a simple Introduction: My name is Klaus and I am a twenty year old college student attending the University of Connecticut (Go Huskies!) majoring in Linguistics/Psychology (Maybe switching to Computer Science..) and minoring in Film Studies. Very exciting! Drama filled!

Anyway hey! :] Let me start by saying I've read a few posts around these forums and you all seem like really cool and nice people! You've made a great impression!

Let me start by saying that somehow, over the past couple days I've had a real urge to play Final Fantasy XI. I don't know how or why, but it has brought me here! I am very close to buying the game (this post will probably seal the deal) and am very excited about joining your great community.

I have played WoW for maybe 2 years, but I quit about 3 months ago, because I had been fairly inactive for some time before- and it wasn't interesting to me anymore. So that's my past MMO experience. I'm not sure what drew me back to Final Fantasy XI, but here I am and eager to sign up.

Before I do though I suppose I have a few questions.. I know this is probably all more than you would rather read for a simple intro post and I apologize! But hopefully I'll get some answers. :D

1) What would you recommend I buy it for? I have all three systems (pc, ps2, 360) and I will assume the majority will say PC, but I have been thinking of going for the 360- even though I have a pretty decent rig for my PC. I suppose I'm really looking for the pros and cons for both options?

2) I hear the learning curve can be a bit tough to get used to, but I'm ready for it! But is there anything that can soften the blow a little bit? (Any good resources in terms of websites, etc).

3) From what I see, the community, and even the economy, is really great. Any tips for newbies that I can use to get a headstart in the game? (I suppose this ties in pretty heavily with question 2..)

These are all I can think of for now, but I hope to contribute and, most of all, learn a lot from playing with you guys and reading what you have to say!

Thanks and sorry for the ridiculously long post! Cheers!

[Feba]

1- PC. No real benefit to the other versions; and the PC is very easy to customize to get better graphics (increase resolution and such)
2- Google. Seriously, just use google, and you'll find what you're looking for. It can also be helpful to keep a folder of FFXI bookmarks for sites you find more useful than most (ffxi-atlas, ffxiclopedia, and so on) and just flip through them from time to time
3- use the Search function on the forum, and read all the other advice that has been given to newbs over the years. Anything we can say has been said a thousand times.

Welcome to FFXI.

[Kitalrez]

1. PC, as Feba said. Main advantages are customizability and the ability to upgrade your system if the game specs ever start moving in more hardware intensive directions. (See EQ1 after the Shadows of Luclin expansion and subsequent graphic enhancements). Someday people here may have to actually upgrade from PS2 to PS3s or beyond. I predict screaming.

2. Major ones are this site, (for the forums), you also want to avail yourself of ffxicyclopedia's wiki, and probably MysteryTour. MysteryTour has a lot of Japanese information, so you'll have to translate as they add expansions, but it's always a good place to start if you want to know what's rolling off test server before a major expansion. There are some other more specialized sites, like Pikko's Pots if you garden, or Titanicus.com if you craft or fish. I recommend lisaarndt.com for fishermen if you go that route, as well.

Major thing to realize is that you want to stay off Allakhazam and KillingIfrit. You can get info there, (you know, if you're desperate), but their forums are real cesspits. Their info is largely lifted from other sites as well, rarely with credit to the original writers. Alla and KI are good places to learn to hate the game. If you're not burnt out reading through their forums on certain jobs, you're either really drunk, or the world's blindest optimist.

3. Check the Auction House before you sell anything in game. Also, make use of the command, SORT, when you first view your inventory. This is how to stack items. Both of those points will come in handy when you go out and start collecting crystals/items. Once you know what that AH is selling for a stack of your item, walk over to the nearest merchant and compare what they're offering you for the same item. Oh, and bazaar selling always is done PER ITEM, not PER STACK, don't make the mistake some people do and charge the stack price for single items. You'll wonder why no one buys from you.


Oh, and always ask questions. People will yell at you, there's morons everywhere, but you'll usually get an answer you can use, too. If the worst thing someone can do is call you a noob for asking, it's usually worth the risk.

[The Mauva Syndicate]

I say 360, but thats an arguement that's gone round and round on here for a while. I like the controller more than the keyboard, and FFXi has some pretty kludgy keyboard commands - but it's mostly personal preference.

The learning curve isn't too bad - but just remember - FFXI is a game of strategy and statistics, not reflexes (mostly, there are times when being fast on the draw can be of benefit) so the fastest button pusher may not win (tho he will claim the monster first).

Best thing I can say is get the game, start leveling the beginning jobs, find one you like, get your subjob, get to 30, do the advanced job quests to get advanced jobs you may want to try out...

Then have fun and enjoy it! In terms of the Economy, Hmmm that's a bit tougher - I guess it all depends on your burn rate. Right now I'm leveling a number of jobs and a few of them have a high burn rate for cash, so for me, I mave to spend a good amount of time producing gil - at the beginning, you wont need too much, but it starts to add up fast. Read the articles on here and the wiki about making money, to get a better handle on that part of the game.

[Ellipses]

You can also hook up a controller to the PC if you prefer that method of control.

Like others have said, read. Read voraciously. Read everything you come across for this game, unless it's on gamefaqs. Even if you don't think it has anything to do with what you're interested in. You'll find out it's useful later, and you'll remember all the little things that didn't make sense the first time you read them.

[Groznyj]

Awesome, thanks for your replies.

Yeah I was basically wondering, along with the resources you pointed out, anything you wish you had known before actually starting up yourselves. i.e. the worst aspects of what I should avoid during my time, as well as the best parts, or things I should try to achieve. I guess even that is a broad question that may be best answered by experience.

Thank you guys again for the warm welcome!

[Temagori]

Welcome ^^ Avoid RMT. (Real Money Trade) Take into consideration that whatever basic skills you learn/earn on a different job carry over. I.e. Evasion, Parry, and whatever weapon you use skill. This means it is highly advantageous to level one of the core jobs before leveling another.

Not only for the fact that eventually you will probably sub them, but for the increase in the stats that tend to overflow into all of the other jobs. White Mage is good for leveling if you plan on leveling any mage. Warrior is the basic job to level if you plan on leveling any melee. Warrior is extremely versatile and can use almost every weapon in the game decently.

White Mage is just a basic mage job that you can use to build your magic skills and build as a sub-job, since it is a very often used one throughout the game.

Best piece of advice is make sure to have fun and don't let it become like a job to you and you'll be fine. If you start to feel burnt out take a break. Find some good people in a LS and you'll be set. All in all good luck ^^

[Groznyj]

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I had a new question that I didn't think warranted it's own thread.

I finally picked up and installed FFXI for the 360, great game! Love it so far! I think my only mistake was that I decided to start off with my main class being a white mage. Okay, so big error on my part (I may still be used to WoW!) And I tried to fight a "decent challenge" mandrake thing, and yeah.. it was a decent challenge alright!! I had to run!

So I went to change jobs (black mage now) just to find that I cannot get the black mage intro spell-scroll (Stone I think). I asked someone and they told me I had to go to the Auction House, where the scroll costs 1000G!

Should I just keep my white mage class, do some quests, and try to raise this money? Or would it be better just to delete and start over with the "right" class?

Thanks! This game is great! (And the Tarutaru are hilariously adorable. Too funny).

If anyone is on the same server, I am Groznyj on Kujata. Cheers

[Feba]

Well, that was bad advice. you should check the AH AND the NPC dealers; at your level the AH can be much more expensive.

Still, though, did you equip your weapon? Your white mage should've come with one (if you did, I know it sounds silly, but a lot of people forget about this)

Also, did you use the scroll of cure your white mage has; and cure during the fight? You shouldn't need to, but the first couple levels can be kinda funky.

Anyway, there's no real point to remaking your character, it would take more time to do that than anything else.

What I'd recommend you do is switch your job to MNK; that should smack the crap out of monsters until you have enough money to buy a weapon for your WHM or switch to WHM. Be sure to get signet from the WW guards, it will come in handy later on.

[Groznyj]

I equipped my weapon, and used the scroll of cure. Curing during the fight helped, and I would have won if not for the fact that the mandrake (don't remember it's proper name) also used a HoT spell, and I was only hitting 1's or 2's with my staff.

I'll switch my job to MNK and try to get that signet. Thanks a bunch for your help Feba.

[Feba]

Mandragora. And yeah, their regeneration technique is a bit of a PITA.