Been gone since August 2006..thinking about coming back..many questions.

[Cronox]

Okay so I quit my 75BLM on Midgard back in August 2006 because I was entering my junior year of high school and had to really concentrate on my grades. Well now i'm entering my second semester as a senior and I really don't do that much..SOOO..I'm thinking about coming back.

First question, is there any way for me to recover my character if I don't have any of my old information except my character name and maybe like some simple account stuff? (I don't have POL ID, Game codes, ect.. I threw it all away over the summer cause I though I would be done with FFXI forever )

Second question, if not..how are the lower levels as far as..being able to find groups and things? I'm really not looking forward to going rank 1-10 again..getting passes..CoP mission shouting in Jueno, and things of that nature if its gonna be a massive pain.

Third question, I left about 2 months after ToAU was released...WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE THEN?! Chocobo raising? New jobs? What's the scoop on the new expansion?

Fourth question, is everything still over inflated?

Fifth question, is DRG still nerfed?

Sixth question, is RNG still nerfed?

Seventh question, how much life is truly left in this..almost 5 year old game? I'm not trying to get 9 months down the road and hear that SE is gonna drop a new MMORPG in Spring 2009.

Eighth question, how hard is it gonna be to get back to where I was..I was at around 40 days playtime when I quit..should I expect less?

[Wise Donkey]

1 - You can call SE customer service, but you are probably SOL.
2 - The lower levels go much faster now, as far as missions and such, it shouldn't be too hard to get a group together, I know my LS still does Prommy runs.
3 - Really too much to explain, I recommend you read through the news postings here. 1 New Expansion, 2 New Jobs, Pankration, Chocobo Raising and Racing. So much.
4 - No, the economy has really deflated over the past year or so.
5 & 6 - I am neither of these jobs so I don't feel qualified to answer.
7 - There is no news of a new SE MMO, and even if there were FFXI would still be running. I think this game has more than a few years left.
8 - That's really hard to say, I have little to no experience on BLM. One nice thing about the new Expansion is there are now more ways to earn EXP than just parties.