It's a Pleasure to Meet You

[waynenf]

I played Final Fantasy XI a number of years ago on the PC when it was first released. I loved the game, but I just could not get used to using the controls and the interface on the PC. Sadly, I gave up trying after only 3 months, and never got to experience much of the world. In that month, however, I learned that the community in FFXI was wonderful and helpful, and was very welcoming and willing to help a new player.

Recently, FFXI was released for the Xbox 360, and, figuring the controls and interface might be much better on a console controller, I gave it another shot. I must say I am very pleasantly surprised by the interface and controls on the Xbox
360, and am extremely thrilled to be with you all again. The world if vibrant, and there seems to be a number of friendly and helpful players wandering the world.

I still play and love World of Warcraft, and, since I am used to that game (I have played since the day of release), I am having a difficult time getting used to a few things. If I may, I would like to ask a few questions:

1. Questing: I am not exactly sure who I need talk to to obtain quests. Missions seem fairly easy to obtain, as I have learned that I need to speak to one of the guards near the gates to the outside world. However, it seems quests are not
easily identified in the game (no one has a big, yellow exclamation point above their heads), and I understand that for some quests you need a certain level of fame before you can even obtain a quest. Are there any pointers concerning
questing you guys may have for a new player?

2. Con system: I am not quite sure I understand the "Check" system for monsters. Some monsters that have conned tough to me were rather easy to kill... others that conned easy pray left me lying dead on the ground (and there is nothing sadder than watching a poor Taru Taru fall face down in the dirt, slain by a rabbit). What exactly determines how difficult a monster is?

3. Loot: do any monsters drop loot that is usable other than crafting supplies?

4. Crafting: I am used to World of Warcraft in which all crafting recipes are learned and stored in something like a recipe book. It seems as if crafting in FFXI is more trial and error. Is there a good reference guide for crafting?

It is a pleasure to meet all of you. If any of you are on the Kujata server happen to see a tiny little Taru Taru Black Mage named Maladict running around Windurst (or the outlying areas), please be sure to say "Hi". I love meeting new people, and look forward to playing with you all.

[Taskmage]

1. You get quests by talking to NPCs. Some quests aren't available until others are completed, or until you reach a certain fame level by doing a so many quests, but there is no in-game indicator to tell you this. You just have to poke people every now and then to see if they have any work for you.

2. The difference in your level and the mob's level determine what /check tells you, but the level ranges and difficulties shift as you grow in level. During your first few levels you can fight EM-T safely, but after level 6 you should stick to easy prey or decent challenge. After a certain point, things that check tough should only be taken in a group, and many jobs can't handle an easy prey alone.

3. Most beastmen have a chance to drop wearable armor, but the type of armor they drop is usually well below the standard you would want to wear to fight them in the first place. The really useful equipment dropped by mobs is reserved to NMs, or notorious monsters, that pop rarely around other mobs of the same type.

4. You can learn recipes by talking to the people in the guild, but its much easier to use an online reference like www2.ffrecipe.com or ffxi.somepage.com

[Balfree]

First of all, welcome back

1. Questing differs from missions as they are spread out through all the world, talk to every npc you come across and you will never miss a quest. Some quests become avaliable once you clear a pre-requesite quests, others require a certain level of fame. How do you get fame.. by doing quests! some quests are repeatable, for example a npc who needs feed for his sheep in selbina, each time you give him the item he wants, you will get a small bit of fame, theres also non-repeatable quests that may award you with Gil and/or items, maps, and fame, so just go npc hunting out there and talk to them what you can also do is find quests online and do them, go here for a extensive list of quests that FFXI has: http://ffxi.somepage.com/questdb/ .

2. Con system is based on your level and stats, and some say your gear matters too, im not sure, however some Toughs might be easier to kill than some Easy Prey, why? because while a Tough might be conned that way, that only means he is higher level than you, depending on what types of attack it has, skills it uses and attack/defense rate, it might be easy to kill or it might not. In time you will learn what monsters you should avoid no matter what it Cons, obviously on higher levels this wont matter much.

Anyone who can provide more info, go ahead... im installing Tau and too excited to think straight :p

3. Yes. Its semi-rare to see equipment drop, atleast from more regular enemies, usually some Beastmen drop gear, but dont count on that to cover your feet, you will rely on the auction house to get your gear, and if youre the adventurous monster hunter type, you might find yourself hunting for a particular special monster to drop you a nice piece to wear, or to sell. Also BCNM (instanced fights) is where you get alot of gear and valuables to sell.

4. Yes o YES there is. Ingame you can talk to guild npcs, and they will tip you and give you some recipes, but thats too troublesome and time consuming, go here for all the good stuff:
http://ffxi.somepage.com/recipedb/ can also search by profession: http://ffxi.somepage.com/recipedb/guild.php or for a nice extensive list: http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.j...uild/guild.htm

Hope i could help!

And for future reference since we ask and answer alot of questions around here, consider the search funtion of our forums: http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/search.php

Double Post Edited:
TM beat me to the punch, and i pratically said the same he did XD...

[blobboid196]

4. You can learn recipes by talking to the people in the guild, but its much easier to use an online reference like www2.ffrecipe.com or ffxi.somepage.com

i see that ffxi.somepage.com website is really very informative, but that www2.ffrecipe.com ... i have no idea what that's about. even sending it through a japanese-english translator, i still can't figure it out. what's up with that?

[Taskmage]

I fixed the link so it now points to the site in english.