A few questions on returning...

[hpsolo]

1) I used to play this game like there was no tomorrow and had a WHM named Sylphine (on Midgardsormr). I also had RDM and BLM leveled up to the 70's while WHM was maxed at 75. Does anyone know if this character is still in use today on Midgardsormor? I was in PhoenixDown (though I heard that it disbanded not too long after I quit the game in ... 2004(?). If you have any history on this linkshell or character, I'd love to hear about it. And no, I'm not interested in getting that character back (I sold it); I'm just interested in knowing what's happened since then.

2) I was thinking of getting back into the game, again with a WHM. However, I remember the economy going to the crappers (part of the reason I quit the game) and WHM's aren't exactly known for their farming (at least back then) aside from teleport shouts. So, my question is: are items like Noble's Tunics and Light Staves and Raise 3 still ridiculously priced (I think Raise 3 hit 2 or 3 million gil when I left). Just so I have an idea of where the economy is, does anyone know the prices of the elemental staves, Noble's Tunic, and Raise 3 are?

3) Is NM and HNM camping still pretty bad? I hated having to compete for 'needed' unique drops for my jobs (WHM, RDM, and BLM) such as the Moldavite Earring. Then there was all the lagging where Niddhog spawned, etc...

4) Is everyone pretty much high level nowadays? Or are there still a good amount of folks who aren't logging in to just do end-game stuff?
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5) Oh, what's the general population like on various servers? Do you consider your server "crowded" (like Midgardsormr back in the early 2002-2004 period)?

[naraya]

I'd answer this as someone that just returned after a 2-3 year break as well.

2) The economy has gotten leaps better. Pretty much all the nice items that I wanted to get as a low lvl war are a lot more affordable then before. I've looked up the prices for the items you're talking about as well: Raise 3 is around 10k, the light staff is around 25k and the noble tunic is around 600k. All the prices are from Midgardsormr.

4) There's more then enough people leveling low lvl jobs. A lot of them are high ranked players, but I see quite a lot of new players/returning players on my server as well. Getting parties has been pretty easy, even as a Taru War and Mnk. But I've only partied in the Dunes yet.

5) There's still a good amount of players on my server, Ragnarok. Usually I see around 1.5k to 4k players online.

[Wise Donkey]

1 - no idea
2 - The economy has deflated, which means everything is cheaper, thus you get less for goods and services also. That being said, it is still easier to save money and get what you need.
3 - SE has really cracked down on RMT the past year, so it has gotten a lot better. It is not perfect, there are still some issues, but still better than it was.
4 - There are still folks across all levels, and End Game isn't too crowded, as they keep adding more end game stuff.
5 - Not at all, good level I think.

[IfritnoItazura]

4) Is everyone pretty much high level nowadays? Or are there still a good amount of folks who aren't logging in to just do end-game stuff?

If I'm reading this correctly, according to the 7th Vana'diel Census (2007), 9.16% of the characters have one or more Lv.75 jobs.

Even if the entire population of Lv.1-10 characters (28.13%) are just mules and we take them out of the calculation, Lv.75 characters still only make up 11.92% of the "real" characters.

So, roughly 9 out of 10 people (well, 9 out of 10 not-mule characters) are unikely to be participating in "endgame" activities. S-E says in the same Census that there are more than 500,000 users, so you're looking at ~440,000 players here.

[hpsolo]

Thanks for the response. Hopefully everything will continue to improve as summer draws near.