[gmatos78]

Well I have started playing again after 3+ years of playing WoW. I still play and will continue to play WoW but sometimes I need a break from the monotonously easy gameplay of WoW and its "get better gear" philosophies.

When I played FFXI 3+ years ago I was a total noob to MMOs and although I had much fun it was quite overwhelming (FFXI is definitely NOT a game for noobs).

Now that I have a bit more MMO experience I think I can enjoy FFXI more.

My concerns coming back don't have much to do with what has changed (I can find that out as I play) but rather with how I make the transition from a game like WoW to a game like FFXI.

My plans for FFXI are to casually get through quests and missions, leveling slowly but steadily and have enough gil to get by. I plan on gaining gil mostly by selling loot, crystals, and doing repeatable quests. As of now I do not plan on grabbing a profession. Also, rapid leveling is not a priority so I can spend as much time on any level as needed to finish doable quests and have enough gil to get gear that will help me along.

My more specific questions relate to quest and mission tracking and to overall progression planning.

-Is there a more user friendly way of keeping track of quests, missions, and their related NPC's other than putting marks up on your map or writing stuff down?
-How do I know who and where I get quests from? WoW has yellow "?" and "!", what does FFXI have if anything?
-As to general game progression, how do I know what to do or what comes next?

So basically, one question that encompasses most, if not all of my doubts, questions, concerns is, What tools, in-game or otherwise, are available that help me move along and progress in the game?

I hope I made myself clear

Thanks in advance!

[Omni]

FFXI doesnt have the goto this guy, then that guy then this guy highlighted for you during quests, missions and etc.

You're very best way to keep track of what to do and what comes next is to use the various ffxi databases available to us.

Main Page - BGWiki
FFXIclopedia

Also, a good way to track trends and see what's selling as well as looking up item stats and recipes:

Final Fantasy XI Auction House - FFXIAH.com

The only ingame tracking of missions and quests you get provided to you are what missions you have open and what missions you've completed. The rest is solely up to you to take care of.

Hope that helps.

[Murphie]

Also, you may remember this, but just in case: FFXI does not reward you with EXP for quests with a couple of rare exceptions.

Quests are still a good way to start out financially, and selling things to NPCs and on the AH (depending on the price) are also viable methods.

[KingOfZeal]

Tracking for Quests/Missions and such are mostly manual. The game offers a quest and mission log (2 different things so you don't get confused) and each log is also separated by location. For example, you can have Quests > Current Quests > San d'Oria, Quests > Completed Quests > Windurst, Missions > Promethia, and so on. But, the quest log only tells you who started the quest and a brief description of the quest itself, not what to do (most of the time). You can get where the person is by where it is in the log, and a large majority of quests and missions are well documented online.

However, as far as missions that have multiple steps (like, for example, the 2-3 nation missions), you have to remember where you are in the mission. It's not terribly difficult, since there are normally a few clues you get, like key items and such, which can help you tell someone who is helping you where you are. I've personally never had a problem remember where I was in a particular mission/quest though.

As for progression, the main progression is through missions, which have the same starting place. Those NPCs will also tell you if you can activate a particular mission or not (the main limit being Rank point, which are easy to get by trading crystals to the guard normally located around the mission NPC). Multi-quest lines aren't as clear for progression, but it is documented online if a quest is part of a quest line, and what the pre-requisites are, as well as which quests follow in that line. Missions are similarly documented online. The best place for this information for now would be the FFXIclopedia, since last I checked the BG Wiki is trying desperately to get it's act together, and most items and pages are stubs.

[gmatos78]

Ok thanks for all the info!

Any other good sites out there?

As to gear, specifically tiered gear, I remember that even 3+ years ago when I played there was stuff called Artifact or Relic gear and also gear specific to race and nation. Does the game progression include tips or directions on when, how and where I can get these "tiered" sets?

[Murphie]

Each job has it's own artifact armor, acquired from 52-60, with an artifact weapon coming along at 40ish.

Category:Artifact Armor - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki

Relic armor is another story altogether

Category:Relic Armor - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki

Race Specific Equipment, or RSE is acquired earlier on, but can be useful up to and even in some cases after, the AF is obtained.

Race Specific Equipment - FFXIclopedia - a Wikia Gaming wiki

[Omni]

Everything you could want to know is in the wikis. Seriously.

[Murphie]

That's why most of our links lead there.

[gmatos78]

OK thank you very much!